In His Arms Once Again
by StarryLightPaws
Summary: Ziva finally completes her mission with NCIS and is heading home to her family. Tiva reunion, post episode 17x11
1. Christmas

On December 19, there was a crisply cool night when Ziva left NCIS; she had her sweet friend Jimmy dropping her at the Dulles airport. Ziva walked to the gate and looked at her phone as it rang, realizing it was Tony calling her. She answered the phone, "Hello Tony."

"Hi my sweetcheeks, I know I called you earlier, I had to call you because Tali is bugging me to call you to see if you are on the plane. She is so excited to see you; she misses her Ima, you know?" Tony said.

"Aw. That is so sweet of you to just call me for Tali; maybe I can talk to her and calm her?" Ziva said.

"Hey sweetcheeks, that sounds good idea and I will give the phone to Tali," Tony replied. Ziva could hear Tali saying "Abba!?" in the background.

The moment Tali got the phone, she ran to the window at the Cairo airport.

"Hey hi Tali, my plane will be ready for me to board real soon, you hang on there, hold on that necklace, a deep breath and Ima will be there in person before you know it, I love you my darling, see you soon, ok?" Ziva said.

"Alright, I can't wait to see you, Ima. I love you Ima and see you soon!" Tali said excitedly as she gave the phone back to Tony.

"Ah, I think that helps, my sweetcheeks, I can't wait to grab you in my arms, and I love you, see you soon my love" Tony added.

"My Tony, I love you too, I think I hear the PA saying boarding for Cairo. Here I come, I will be in your arms before you know it, mwah," Ziva answered.

As the plane took off, Ziva had a deep relief as she looked out the window by her seat. She looked at the Washington DC landmarks, as she was thinking about her family she had abandoned out of love, and protecting her family was the first thing she thought. She would find a way to ease her anxiety by resting her eyes to make the time go faster.

As time had gone by quick before she knew it, she woke up the moment the plane was landing down. She pulled up the shades to look out the window by her, she noticed the Cairo airport. As she smiled the sun was shining on her face. Ziva would check her phone since it was beeping with many text messages from few people including Tony, and noticed the date of December 21st on her phone. Moments later, Ziva grabbed her carry-on bag, zoomed out of the plane. She did her power quick steps as she moved around other passengers, until she saw Tony standing there smiling, holding Tali's hand.

Tali excitedly screamed "Ima!" Ziva stood on the steps going down, smiling at Tony and her little girl jumping around excitedly. Ziva slowly walked closer as she knew Tali would get all excited by running into her arms as Tali screamed joyfully. The moment Ziva picked Tali into her arms, Tony opened his arms around Ziva, and their daughter, as he kissed Ziva's forehead.

"My sweetcheeks Ziva, it sure feels good to have you back in my arms. I will never let you go, I will always make sure you don't feel alone," Tony spoke softly after kissing Ziva's forehead.

Ziva stroked Tony's soft beard, staring into Tony's eyes and whispered under her breath.

"Oh my Tony, I am so sorry for..." Ziva responded softly.

"Ziva, remember what Gibbs taught us about apologizing, it is sign of weakness. I know you are very strong person, you had your reasons. I do understand, and that is why I never gave up on you, I waited patiently. Tali kept me going daily knowing the day you would come back. I know you never intended to leave us, you just wanted to protect Gibbs, even made sure he and McGee were safe. You would do anything to protect your family from those people that don't get the picture of who you are, you are who you are. I have never left, I am still here, always will be. Ziva, are you ready to go home with us?" Tony spoke with his gentle sweet voice that calms Ziva.

"Thank you, I love you so much for putting up with me. Gibbs told me that I am ready, I think he is right, I am ready to go home with you and Tali," Ziva answered as she hugged Tony.

"Ima, why you are squeezing me?" Tali whispered as she pondered why her Ima had her in arms hugging her Abba.

"Oh Tali, I am sorry, I am just so happy to have you and your Abba in my arms," Ziva spoke softly, stroking Tali's cheek.

Ziva, Tony and Tali headed to the lovely home that reminded Ziva a lot of the farmhouse that she grew up in, realizing how much the farmhouse had turned out lovely after the fire.

"Ziva, here is the surprise that we want to show you, this farmhouse... Adam and I rebuilt this home for us, what do you think?"

Ziva gasped as her memories of the old farmhouse flooded back in her head, "Oh my, Tony, you did not have to do this, I was ready to move on from that farmhouse that blew up," Ziva spoke as she cried.

Tony sat quietly, pondering for a minute, and looked in the back seat where Tali was sleeping soundly in her car seat,.

"Ziva, I got to show you something" Tony responded.

"Oh? More surprises? Ziva whispered softly.

As soon Tony parked the car front of the garage, he got out of the car, went around the car to open the door where Ziva was sitting, and he reached out his hand for Ziva to hold., Ziva looked at Tony, as she leaped out of the car, then hugged Tony as she broke down in tears.

"Oh Tony, this home is lovely, it is just the memories... " she sniffled.

"Ziva, it is ok, let it all get out; shh it is ok, my sweetcheeks. You have to remember one thing, this farmhouse is not the same spot that blew up. It broke my heart thinking you died; when I met Tali, she gave me a lot of hopes that you were still alive. She would tell me all those dreams of you all the time, and she knew you were alive. I believed in our daughter so that is when I decided to look for you, then l I found you in Cairo. The reason I asked you to fly back to Cairo is because it is a new memory for us. It is where we found each other again the first time, and I just wanted to make us a new memory of a new farmhouse for us to enjoy those together. I am sorry if I let you down on this, we can go find another place if you really want to," Tony answered as he comforted Ziva.

"Oh this is so sweet of you, you did not have to explain whole thing, I think I got the picture here as you just explained my thoughts I was thinking. This farmhouse is lovely, only different is that this garage, for your workshop?"

"Yeah, Adam suggested me to have a garage for all those tools that Gibbs had sent me. I guess being a handyman is just right for me when I need to stay busy, and Adam did great looking after us. He was doing his job, I am sorry that he died," Tony responded as he walked to the back door of the car to get Tali out.

"Ah, I can see the great job Adam did with the garage and the house. Yeah Adam risked his life to make sure I have a good life, and he did a lot for us, he made sure of that. The house and garage are lovely, seriously. Let me hold Tali, and you can guide me through," Ziva answered with a sweet smile.

Tony opened the door in the garage, greeted Ziva and Tali into their home, as Tali took off running to her bedroom, hollering for her mother to see her room, as Ziva chuckled in awe, realized how much Tony did great job with the home, and taking care of their daughter. Ziva walked toward to Tony, squeeze his arm, hugged him gently, and told him how much she was so happy to be home, be with him and Tali is what matters to her at that moment. That night, Ziva was tucking Tali in her bed, she decided to sit with Tali to chitchat.

"Ima, I am so glad you are home now, will you promise me that you will not run away from us again?" Tali started the conversation with her mother as she looked at Ziva pondering if she will run away again.

"Oh my sweet Tali, you know what, I can't promise everything. I did not like to run away from you, I am sorry that you had to go through that, I did not mean to leave you and your Abba. I had to help your Grandpa Gibbs and Uncle McGee by making sure they are safe like you and your Abba," Ziva sighed softly. She started singing in Hebrew as she held Tali, the same song that Ziva recalled Tony had played on one of those days in honor of her late sister, Tali. Tony was quietly standing in the hallway listening to the Hebrew song Ziva was singing to their daughter, wondering if Ziva would run away again as he reminded himself not to think about it. By not thinking or wondering about that, Tony walked in Tali's room, singing Hebrew along with Ziva, which had surprised her how good Tony had done with Hebrew.

"Tony, you are singing Hebrew, did you know that?" Ziva smiled at Tony being impressed.

"Oh yeah, I just want to keep Hebrew alive for you and Tali. My Dad was encouraging me to have lessons to learn how to speak Hebrew some more for Tali. The first few nights without you here was hard on her, she was upset at me for speaking English all the time. She seemed to feel left out so I thought I could speak Hebrew at her bedtime. It seemed to help her calm down, sleep better when she had piece of you by holding that scarf, and singing in Hebrew until she goes sleep like she is now." Tony smiled softly as he looked at Tali sleeping being cradled by Ziva.

"Oh my Tony, you did wonderful, and it feels so good to hold Tali, she is so beautiful. She seems to be at peace, she told me she doesn't need the scarf, because I am holding her, and it is so sweet have her hands holding on my arm as I cradle her". Ziva kissed Tali's head, tucked her in with her blanket, placing scarf by her just in case as Tony looked on. He could sense something was not right but he did not want to think about it, then he walked out of the room, as he went to the garage, the garage had been his place where he learned to chill by working on wood projects just like Gibbs did.

About an hour later, Ziva was in her bedroom, finishing up her journal on her laptop, and sent emails to Gibbs and McGee to let them know she is all good, settling in with Tony and Tali.

Tony walked in the bedroom, noticed Ziva was in the bathroom which is in their master bedroom, he just stood there staring at Ziva, realizing how real it was to see Ziva being at home even in his bedroom, it had been so long time since they have been in a bedroom together.

Ziva was taking her clothes off, she noticed the mirror reflection, noticed Tony standing there at the door.

"Oh Tony, you scared me, I am sorry if I was so quiet, I figured you were in the garage, I got the chance to talk to Gibbs, and McGee, told them all is good," Ziva gasped softly as she realized Tony is just there to look at her.

"Oh I am sorry, I did not mean to scare you, I just wanted to stand here, looking at you just to make sure you are really here, and I really miss you so much, I did not think my manhood will work or be alive because it has been too long since you left, you know"? Tony answered carefully as he struggles.

"I am so sorry, I know it is the weakness, I have not slept with anyone ever since last time we met, even conceive our daughter, and I just shut down, due to my anxiety. I just kept myself busy and you both were always on my mind. Why don't we just go with the flow?" Ziva responded as she took her shirt off.

"Yeah I understand, we can go with the flow," Tony responded softly as he walked into the bathroom watching Ziva taking rest of her clothes off.

"Tony, while we go with the flow, do you want come in shower with me?" Ziva replied to Tony, as she reached out to invite Tony in shower with her.

"Oh sure, it is working, I need to take this clothes off, I will be there in with you in a minute," Tony carefully taking off his pants as he got all worked up throbbing as he craved to hold Ziva to himself and wanting to make love with her.

As soon Tony leaped into shower with Ziva, he would look at her as she would stroke her hair, all wet and naked being with her was what matters to him and his mind was focused with Ziva. Ziva noticed Tony being all worked up as she stroked her hair, then she reached out to Tony, kissed him as Tony kissed her back, as they hugged tightly as if there is no way to let each other all go. They spent a lot of time in shower and bedroom pouring out their love making as they was exploring and embraced their love.

Next morning on December 22nd, Tony woke up, looking at Ziva right by him, sleeping peacefully as he stroked her hair away from her face. Ziva woke up softly, looking at Tony, stroked Tony's soft beard.

"Tony, do you remember the time we was on undercover mission?" Ziva asked softly as she wakes up

"Oh yeah, every moment of it, and it was real, I think back then we did not really explore in embracing, we had too much fun, too much wild sex, and we did our mission, I have no regrets of that, don't you? Tony replied carefully as he looked at Ziva

"Yes, you are right, no regrets here, I think that moment I have told myself that you are my soulmate, even though we did not say it or show it until you found me in Israel. Remember that house we actually explored and embraced our love, we got blessed with Tali, that is when I knew for sure that you are the one in my life, even though I made mistakes with other men, Michael, Ray, all those guys I noticed that there was never true embrace in them, not the same kind that I saw in you, and I love you. I will do my best not to abandon you and Tali; I can't promise but I am doing a mission to make sure my family is safe, I am ready with everything," Ziva responded as she sat up on the bed, looking at Tony.

"Yeah, I understand, what matters to me is that I have you in my life. You are my daughter's mother, you mean a lot to me, you taught me a lot to be a better man, and a father that Tali deserves to have. I just don't want to raise Tali like my father did to me. Not saying my Dad is bad person, he is just not perfect but good man at his own ways, you know," Tony giggled softly as he adjusted himself.

"Yeah, I think you are doing awesome... oh I think I heard something, is it Tali?

"Ah yeah I think she will be here to crash, I should get up to get our morning going, I will make us breakfast," Tony replied as he kissed Ziva some more as he need to control himself by getting up to get dressed.

"Sounds good, I need to get dressed before Tali comes in too" Ziva answered as she got up to get dressed.

Tali came in all excitedly as Tony and Ziva just finished up putting clothes on.

At the kitchen, Tony and Ziva were getting the breakfast going, Ziva wanted make things she thought Tali would like.

"Ziva, what are you making?" Tony noticed Ziva making some pancake batter,

"Crepes with fruits all that, she likes it right?" Ziva replied as if she knew Tali liked the crepes.

"Ah well, about that... I have to tell you that, since you have been gone, she got sick of crepes, threw it all up and told me not to make it anymore. It took me a long time help her with those food she got so picky with, so my Dad came up with this idea. I made her chocolate chip pancakes with banana eyes and whipped cream smiles with a cherry nose, her favorite breakfast, trust me with that," Tony replied as he whispered at Ziva's ear.

"Ah I see, what make her stop eating crepes, it was her favorite meal? What happened?" Ziva was puzzled as she asked Tony.

"I am not sure why, she would not tell me, but I know for sure that she was missing you terribly," Tony replied as he poured a cup of coffee.

"Ah I see, I will talk with Tali, and please make me a cup of coffee?" Ziva replied as she prepared Tali's breakfast.

'Wait a minute I thought you don't like coffee, this is something you might not like?" Tony was puzzled as he got 2nd cup out of cabinet.

"I drink coffee since I saw Gibbs, even though I still drink tea at times, there is times I want coffee. I will like your coffee, it is ok Tony," Ziva replied. Ziva was comforting Tony.

At the kitchen table, Ziva sat with Tali and Tony, as they enjoy a great breakfast to enjoy as a family, Tali decided to ask many questions to her mother, trying to understand why she left.

"Ima, where were you"? Tali asked softly.

"Tali, I had to do some business that I need to do with your Grandpa Gibbs," Ziva replied carefully.

"Oh is that why Grandpa Gibbs sent Abba some tools to do some things for him too?" Tali asked.

"Probably, I think Gibbs just want to make sure your Abba doing things for him, just to keep your Abba busy because he was missing me too much like you do too," Ziva replied softly.

"Ima, are you staying here with us?"

"Oh yeah, I am staying here, my darling," Ziva replied softly

"For good? That means you and Abba will be together for good? Tali excitedly asked.

"First of all, your Abba and I will always be together no matter what; we are your Ima and Abba, we stick together, I hope it will be for good too," Ziva answered as she looked at Tony cleaning up the counter.

"Ima, Abba does love you very much, he missed you very much and when he gets sad he goes to the garage, sometimes talk to Uncle McGee on the phone in there. I think you both should get married and be together for good, so Abba doesn't get lonely, and Ima, can I tell you a secret in your ear?" Tali asked her mother.

"Oh my darling, sure what is it?" Ziva replied as Tali went closer to her Ima's ear to whisper.

"Abba cries every night, and he drink those yucky smelly drinks at night too after we sing in Hebrew with his guitar before I go sleep," Tali whispered before Tony returned to the table.

"Oh really? Good thing he did not cry last night, right? But I will talk with your Abba about that later, everything will be alright, my darling," Ziva answered as she turn around to Tony who looked worried.

"All is good here?" Tony asked Ziva.

"Oh yeah, Tali just was asking me questions and one thing she mentioned got me worried, but we can talk about it later, is that ok?" Ziva replied gently.

"Ah I see, alright, sounds good, my sweetcheeks" Tony replied as he sat down with his cup of coffee.

"Abba, Ima, are you both going to be dating?" Tali asked as she stood between her parents, smiling.

"Ah, dating? I think we are dating, we want to take things slow, your Ima just came home, and there are so many things we want to catch up, and do things together as a family, sounds good?" Tony replied to Tali as he looked at her.

"Tali, like I told your Abba last night, I want to go with flow with everything. I love you both very much, to answer your question, I think we are dating, like Abba say, we will go with the flow and see how things go, is that ok?" Ziva reached out Tali, hugged her as she looked at Tony.

"Alright, but will you and Abba get married and be family?" Tali look at her Ima, holding her necklace that her Ima gave her.

"Tali, no matter what it is, we will always be family, your Abba and I love you very much, and you will be the first to know if we decided to get married, sounds good to you? Ziva answered softly as Tony rubbed Ziva's back, knowing that Tony was there to comfort her, as Ziva try her best to answer things her daughter was asking.

"Tali, everything will be ok, we will make sure you will be first to know before everyone else," Tony replied as he hugged Tali.

"How about a new baby brother or sister for me?"

Tali responded with giggles as Ziva and Tony looked at each other.

"Tali, we don't know what may happen in the future, but I will make sure you will be the first to know, ok?" Ziva replied as Tony patted Ziva's shoulder.

"Your Ima is right, we just go with the flow. First thing is this, we are family, we will be together no matter what lay ahead in our future, time will tell." Tony replied softly as he smiled at Tali.

"Ok, I want to go play with my dollhouse that Abba built for me," Tali answered softly as she looked down towards the playroom nearby.

"Ok my darling, you can go play, and I will be right over there on the couch if you need me, ok?" Ziva replied as she got up from the kitchen chair, looking at Tali as she run off.

"My dear, you go on, I will meet you at the couch when I finish up cleaning here; it would not be too long." Tony spoke up as Ziva walked toward living room area.

Ziva was feeling tired all sudden, as she realized the jetlag and the whole embracing love thing with Tony had worn her out, but she wanted to stay up just to enjoy each moment of her time with Tony and Tali. Tony entered the living room, looking at Ziva, as he sat by her, putting Ziva's leg over his lap. Tony was rubbing Ziva's feet.

"Oh that feels so good, my feet had been so sore, been on the go for too long, but it was worth it, no regrets on my missions I have done." Ziva moaned and replied softly, as Tony massaged her feet.

"I can see that, your feet had too many miles and they still look lovely," Tony replied in sense of humor.

"Oh yeah, I just traveled a lot, on the run back in Washington, DC just to watch after Gibbs, and Sahar; the whole thing is over, as I am glad that Gibbs was just there in time to shoot her out just like I did on Ari. There are times I am really wondering if everything is really over with those people that would want hunt me or my family down," Ziva replied with soft giggles

"Ziva, I really hope everything is actually over with, if it is not then will you run away and leave us alone again?" Tony questioned Ziva softly.

"If I have to run away again, I might have to relocate you both, and it will be back in DC if that is the case. Gibbs promised me that he will not abandon me when I am in trouble or in need of help. I am not going to leave you both here again." Ziva nodded and replied softly.

"Ah I see, what would we do if that is the case, what about this house?" Tony pondered as he responded.

"Tony, let's not worry about it right now, I just need to adjust a lot. Too much things to digest, on top of my anxiety I try to keep it in control, and we shall worry about that eventually, right now I just want us just to chill and catch up on what I have missed on you and Tali," Ziva answered in firm tone where she did not want Tony to worry.

"Alright, that sounds good, we go with the flow, we take one thing at time, and yes I agree, there is so much for us to adjust and digest whole thing. We will go through this whole thing together, and I want you to know that I am just glad you are home with us," Tony responded softly with a soft smile as he looked at Ziva.

"Yeah, I agree with you. So I just realized 3 days from today is Christmas, I wonder what you tend to do with Tali while I was gone, did you make sure Tali know the tradition of Jewish culture besides?" Ziva wondered as she asked Tony.

"Not much but you see those menorah lights there, I light them up every evening, even though I don't do the prayers when you were not here, but when you are here, I would say happy Hanukkah. Tali had a hard time to understand this, but she thinks those lights bring the luck for you to be home one day, so you might need to help me with that one. She can understand better when she hears this from you. But she loves the Purim, she would wear her costume when she really misses you. She would go hey Abba, I am wearing this because I miss Ima, I want to wear this to make my dreams come true that Ima will be here one day," Tony replied with a soft giggle.

"Oh my Tony, that is ok, I will help you with this, and Tali is smart, you did real great job. So does she enjoy Christmas?" Ziva replied as she looked at Tony.

"Well, Tali likes Christmas lights, that special light over there, she likes gifts, and Ziva, I made sure she knows about Santa. Every year the day before Christmas, I would take her to the mall, to see Santa, she would run to Santa, asking one thing, always same thing, she would ask him to bring her Ima home. She sure believes in Santa like you asked me last time. I did what you would want our daughter to believe in Santa, she does." Tony replied with a smile.

"Sounds like you did well, I would like to make this year special for Tali. Do you think she is ready to understand some things?" Ziva asked Tony as she pondered.

"Yeah, I think she will be ready eventually," Tony responded with soft tone.

"Well, I think we should take Tali to the mall, and show Santa that her wish came true before Christmas, do you think it would be good?" Ziva asked Tony with a smile.

"Oh yeah, I think it would be great idea, Tali would be so thrilled to have both of her parents going out to the mall with her, and see her Santa. We can plan on going over to the mall this afternoon if you would like to?" Tony answered with a tone that he is more than happy to take his sweetheart and their daughter to the mall.

At the mall, Ziva and Tony walked side by side as Tony pushed the stroller that Tali is sitting in, or Tali would be running around freely which was not what Tony and Ziva wanted, to protect her by having her in the stroller and Tali always had liked to ride in her stroller. As soon Ziva and Tony got closer to the center of the mall, they noticed Santa being there, as many children were in line taking their turns, and Tali was screaming in joy.

"Abba, Santa! I want see Santa, I want to show him my Ima!" Tali excitedly shouted as she pointed her finger at the Santa on big red chair.

"Oh yeah, Santa is here, you may show your Ima to the Santa. You will need to get out of the stroller, and walk with your Ima," Tony responded with a smile as he held Ziva's hand, welcoming her to take Tali in the line.

"Ima! Ima, my wish came true that you came in time for Christmas!" Tali replied in joy as Ziva smiled, looking at Tony.

"Thank you my Tony, this is the best thing for me to be here with you and Tali, I shall take Tali into the line to see Santa, do you want to come with me too?" Ziva whispered to Tony as she smiled and she invited Tony to join them.

"Sounds good, I will be with you both, that's for sure," Tony nodded as he smiled back to Ziva and kissed her softly as he held her hand.

Moments later, when it was Tali's turn, she dragged her Ima's hand as they walked to the Santa, as Tony walked closely at the sideline to take some pictures.

"Santa, thank you for sending my Ima here, I got my wish for Christmas. My Ima Mommy is here just in time for Christmas, thank you for bringing her to me and my Abba Daddy," Tali announced her joy of showing off her beautiful mother to the Santa.

"Ho, ho, ho, that is wonderful news to hear that you have your mother just in time for the holidays, I am so happy for you, it is very nice to see your mother here." Santa spoke in cheery tone.

"Tali, shall we sit here with Santa for your Abba Daddy to take picture of us together?" Ziva asked Tali softly as she looked at Santa and Tony.

At the last minute, someone offered Tony to join Ziva and Tali to be in picture with them; he was thrilled as he hurried to join Ziva and Tali. The photo of Ziva, Tony and Tali had turned out beautifully as they worn their best clothes for that special event. Ziva, Tony and Tali went out to dinner, then they decided to go home for the night since Ziva was really tired and so ready to rest for the night.

Back home, Ziva and Tali walked in the house as Tony stayed behind in the garage doing some things, Ziva got all comfortable in her night clothes on, then went to make sure Tali got all comfortable in her PJs, Tali was settling in her bed, she begged her Ima to read a book to her. Normally would be her Abba to read a book to her, but she wanted her Ima, so Ziva and Tali were laying on Tali's bed, as Ziva was reading the book. Tony walked by Tali's bedroom, noticed Ziva reading the same book that he read to Tali many times, and felt disappointed that Tali chose her Ima to read that book. Then he went back to garage, not knowing Ziva had caught Tony at her glance, she was wondering what was wrong with Tony, but wanted to finish the book so Tali could fall sleep. As soon Tali fell soundly sleep, Ziva tucked her in with her blanket and the scarf that she would never let it go ever since at age 2. Ziva went around the house, looking for Tony then she thought where Tony would be at so she went to the garage, noticed that small sun room light on, she went there to find Tony pondering on his chair, looking outside. Ziva walked by Tony, sat down as she noticed a bottle of bourbon, Tony looked at her, grabbed a small glass for her to have some.

"Tony, I did not expect to see you drink like that, is everything ok?" Ziva looked puzzled.

"It had been years since you left, since Gibbs got me tools, and his advice for me to drink lightly on this once a while, just to ponder things, and here it is for you if you want some, Tali is sleeping?" Tony replied with a tone where he sounded calm as if he knew how to control his limitation of drinking.

"Ah Gibbs does the same as you just did, you know I don't like see you guys to drink but if you know your limitation, then I am ok with it as long this stay out of the house so Tali doesn't smell anything and worry about her Abba."

'Alright, sounds good. Tali was telling you this morning about me drinking?" Tony curiously asked as if he wondered how Tali know.

"Tali was telling me that she was worried about you crying at nights and drinking this, I guess she sensed it and smelled your breath, I am not sure what but she is smart little girl, she adores you a lot as I can see that, and I adore you with my burst of love, as long this stay here, I am alright with it, and yes I would like have some before I go bed, I am very tired," Ziva replied tiredly as she grab a glass to drink with Tony.

Ziva and Tony drank up their small shot of glass, then they went in the house, they decided to go bed as if they call it night.

Next morning on December 23, Tony woke up, looking at the clock saying 7am. He looked at Ziva, kissed her forehead, as he got up from the bed quietly hoping that Ziva would just rest so he walked to the bathroom. He then went out of the bedroom quietly and walked by Tali's bedroom, noticed Tali sleeping. It was when Tony thought he better go make some breakfast for his family. As Tony got the coffee brewing and he processed the food to cook, the phone rang. As Tony looked for his phone which was on kitchen table, he went to the table, realizing it was McGee, so he answered, as the moment Tony was on the phone. Ziva had woke up by the smell of the brewing fresh coffee that sounded so good to her, so she got up, walked into the kitchen, noticed Tony was talking on phone and preparing to cook. Ziva quietly walked to Tony, hugged him from behind and smiled at Tony as Tony smiled as he was speaking to Tim.

"Hi Tony, good morning, the coffee woke me up, it smells so good." Ziva spoke softly as she giggled at Tony.

"Hi my sweetcheeks, I thought you would like that smell, I like the smell of it, good morning my love, I am on hold with Tim, you look lovely and I love you," Tony responded to Ziva as he held phone away from the mic, while being on hold with Tim and kissed Ziva softly on her lips.

"Ah sweet, I love you too, I hope Tim is doing ok?" Ziva replied in soft tone.

Ziva decided to help Tony to cook breakfast and get the table ready. Tony heard Tali running to Ziva, being excited to see her Ima.

"Ima! Ima," Tali running down to kitchen in joy as if she had something to say to Ziva while at the same time Ziva was setting the table.

"Hey my sweetheart, Abba is on the phone, try to be quiet please." Ziva hugged Tali as she tried to calm Tali down.

"Ima, I wonder who is on the phone with Abba? Is it Uncle Tim?" Tali whispered to Ziva.

"Oh yeah, your Uncle Tim is on the phone with your Abba, while he is on the phone, can you help me set up this table, breakfast is almost ready?" Ziva answered softly as Ziva guided Tali to the silverware drawer.

As soon Tony hung up the phone, he went to get the breakfast food ready to be set on the table as Ziva and Tali got table all set up, sat down as Tony came to the table. Tony looked happy, smiled at Ziva, as Ziva wondered what was up but she wanted to wait until Tony sit down with her and Tali to enjoy breakfast.

"Tony, how was it with Tim? All is good with him and his family?" Ziva wondered as she asked Tony.

"Ziva, it looks like Gibbs gave Tim few days off for the holidays, so Tim and his family are coming out here for the holidays with us, how does that sound?" Tony replied in soft sweet tone.

"Oh, they are coming out here, I thought we would spend Christmas alone as a family," Ziva sounded so disappointed.

"Ziva, it will be alright, we will be a family in this house for the holidays, I did not forget your anxiety. I thought of you when I told Tim that we can't have too many people in this house swarming around, so I told Tim, they could come but they have to find a hotel. Tim agreed with me and he will find a hotel nearby, and remember, his wife got some connections through some travel agency, she knows some people there that will help them to reserve a hotel nearby like 20 mins drive from here, it will be ok my sweetcheeks." Tony spoke up softly to calm Ziva with his comforting tone.

"Alright, I am sorry if I reacted too soon, I just wanted it to be a quiet holiday, and I am happy to hear that Tim and his family will stay at the hotel. I am excited for them to come to visit us. As long they enjoy the holidays, I am good with that. Thank you my Tony." Ziva hold Tony's hands, as she replied.

Ziva and Tony spent the day cleaning and getting the house ready for the visitors to come, and Ziva made some new rules to show Tony and Tali at front porch at the door. Shoes must be taken off outside before entering the house, Tony and Tali had agreed with that new rule. That evening after the chores Ziva and Tony had done, they decided to go out to Christmas shopping to get gifts and food goodies for the holidays. As the night fell in, Ziva and Tony spent a lot of time singing with Tali in Hebrew until Tali fell sleep, then they went to the living room to do the wrapping gifts and make plans for the holidays, as it got late they went to their bed as they fell asleep cuddling each other.

Once Christmas Eve had arrived, Ziva and Tony decided to spend the day just enjoy the day to finish wrapping gifts, and got the Christmas lights up and those special lights on. The house smelled so good from those warmers that Ziva always liked to have to make house smell good. That night, Ziva was sitting by the fireplace with a glass of wine, as Tony sat with her, they just wanted to spend alone time quietly while Tali being in bed, all worn out from an exciting day she had with her parents.

"My sweetcheeks, what is on your mind, I can see you being in deep thoughts looking at the fireplace, you look so beautiful, breathtaking to look at your face," Tony sat on sofa with Ziva, smiling at Ziva as Ziva looked at Tony.

"Oh yeah, I am just feeling so relaxed with this fireplace, those lovely lights around us, and relaxing music sure helps. I love this being with you and drinking this wine, for the change I like this better than bourbon," Ziva replied with a soft smile as she lay her head on Tony's shoulder.

Tony smiled at Ziva, looking at Ziva being all comfortable in her panties and a cami shirt, he could see her chest easily, stroked her hair as he was pondering how luckily he is to have Ziva and their daughter in his life. Ziva adjusted herself to look at Tony easily, stroked Tony's beard, kissed Tony as Tony kissed her back. As their kiss got deeper, Tony paused.

"oh my Ziva, this is breathtaking just like those dreams I have always had for us to do this by the fireplace, just 2 of us and Ziva, I love you so much, my sweetcheeks, always do."

"Tony, I love you so much, and here your hand on my chest, feel my heart, it is racing, you make my heart beat as if it will burst in joy," Ziva replied to Tony softly as she took his hand to her chest, then climbed up on Tony, as they kissed some more. Tony invited Ziva on his lap, as they just enjoy each other making out their love, then they decided to get on the floor that had a blanket that would make them comfortable embracing their love as the heat around them had raised the love into the air. They eventually fell sleep cuddling on floor as they kept each other warm. Ziva woke up, noticed the time on her phone lying on the couch, realizing it is 5am. She woke up Tony gently to let him know it is 5am, and wanted to clean up around and get ready for family breakfast. As Ziva and Tony got up, they kissed and hugged some more, then Tony offered Ziva that he would clean up their mess and Ziva can grab shower to get cleaned up, so Ziva agreed with Tony then she went off to take shower while Tony finish up cleaning the mess then get ready for Christmas breakfast with his Ziva and Tali.

Sometime later, Ziva was leaving the bedroom, she went to kitchen, noticed Tony having the table with all candle lights and breakfast being cooked, and Tali was standing smiling at her Ima by the hallway as she greeted her Ima.

"Oh my Tali, happy Christmas, my sweetheart, and I see what you and your Abba did for me, this is so perfect, and I love this," Ziva spoke to Tali being so happy to see her family, and love how Tony doing this whole special thing for her, made her feel all loved.

"Ima, come with me, I have the chair ready for you," Tali happily responded as she dragged her Ima to the kitchen chair, and Tony moved the chair for Ziva to sit, as he greeted Ziva with a great hug with a kiss.

Ziva, Tony and Tali sat happily at table, enjoyed their breakfast, then Tali was all ready for the gifts opening but she was so patient even though she kept looking at the Christmas tree filled with gifts at the corner in front room. After breakfast, Ziva helped Tony clean up the mess, then they went to the front room. Tali saw their parents going to the room, she got so excited screaming through the room as she ran, Ziva had jumped in a gasp of breath as Tony saw that. Tony had to slow Tali down, to remind her not to scream while running, reminding her that is loud and scares her Ima. Tali corrected herself, told her Abba she is sorry and hugged her Ima as they sat on the couch together.

"Ima, I am sorry I did not mean to scare you," Tali softly whispered to Ziva.

"Oh my Tali, it is ok, it happens when you forget, and I am ok. I can see you are so excited; there are a lot of gifts for you. Your Abba will help you with gifts, go on I will be here sweetheart," Ziva replied with a gentle tone as she had a relief, realizing how much she missed to hear the excitement in Tali, and told Tony that she is ok.

"Ziva, yeah, like I say Tali never been this happy ever since you left, since you came, Tali is all bubbly happy girl, and she is picking up on things around her, we are so happy to have you home with us," Tony responded with love.

"That is so true, it is something I will get used to, and I am happy to see Tali to be happy, and I love your smiles too," Ziva replied to Tony.

After the excitement of opening gifts, Tali was all happy, thanking her Ima and Abba, Tony asked Tali to give her mother a small gift box. Tali was thrilled to do that for her Abba, so Tony went to sit by Ziva, as Tali gave Ziva a gift box. Ziva pondered what it was as she looked at Tony and Tali, as she would wonder what it is. She opened the gift box. As soon Ziva opened the box, she gasped with her eyes wide open, looking at Tony and Tali.

"Oh my gosh, this is so beautiful, this is so breathtaking!" Ziva gasped in happy tears looking at Tony, and held Tali's hand.

"That is a promise ring from me and Tali; look at that ring, it is birthstones of Tali, you and me. This got a meaning of us being family forever, no matter what we will always be together," Tony replied as he held Ziva's hand, as his tone was sending the love impression to her.

"You both are so sweet, oh yes I love this ring, and I love you both more than everything else, thank you for everything." Ziva happily responded as she hugged Tony, kissed him then hugged Tali.

Around noon, Ziva and Tony begun to prepare a Christmas luncheon as they knew the McGees would come for the luncheon and visit with Ziva and Tony. Few hours later, as the food was being cooked, there was a doorbell ringing, Tony went to the door, and greeted Tim and his family, as they took off their shoes and came in the house.

"Hey my Elf Lord bro," Tony smiled as he greeted Tim into the house.

"Oh you with this Elf Lord thing, hey my bro!" Tim teased back with a giggle as they hugged.

Ziva and Tali walked up to meet with Tony, greeting Tim, his wife and their twins with open arms. Then they all went to the kitchen table. Tony had said a prayer then Ziva did her prayer in Hebrew as Tony translated for her then everyone was enjoying their meal, chatted with a lot of joy and laughter. Once everyone was so full from a great meal they had, the children were off playing in Tali's playroom, Tony, Ziva, Tim and Delilah sat in living room to catch up things.

"Tim, so how is everyone in DC? Tony asked Tim,

"It is all good, you know how it is at NCIS, the rumors is this year Gibbs is about to retire, what is more is that there is a talk about me taking over his seat. I am not for sure if I am good at this, Gibbs had mentioned that he got someone on his mind," Tim answered with a look toward Tony.  
"Ah I see, come on, Gibbs retiring? Pfft I think he will take the director seat, but who would take his seat, it would be interesting who it will be, but Elf Lord, you would not do good at that, but I know you are good agent, though," Tony replied as he looked at Tim then everyone was looking at Tony.

"Tim, are you trying to say Gibbs is considering Tony to take over his seat? Ziva dared to question Tim as if she could read between lines.

"Oh hmm, well... I don't think everyone have thought of that but I am not surprised if it was what Gibbs is considering this, we know Tony is very good at leading the team, but the thing is he left NCIS for Tali," Tim replied carefully.

"Ah I see, we will see when that comes, if Gibbs calls us and need us, then we will think about it, but I don't know if I will ever work with NCIS again. But that can change only if Gibbs really need my help, like I say, we will think about it, I have been gone for too long and yes I was there recently, I admit I miss being there, but Tony as my boss, that is a conflict, so nope," Ziva replied being blunt.

"That is very understandable, and who knows if Gibbs has special position for you and if Tony takes over the seat, I will be there for him, you guys got my back," Tim replied softly.

"Alright, you know what, Elf Lord? Why don't we all just go with the flow and if that time comes, we will know what to do and do what is right for all of us. If there are more troubles as it gets to the point where things are not normal, I am sure we can figure things out, does it make sense right?" Tony pointed out things to Tim as Ziva agreed with him.

"Alright, sounds good to me, and I like the idea of going with the flow," Tim replied softly in agreement.

Everyone had chatted, listened to music and enjoyed their visit until the night fell. The McGees realized they need to go back to the hotel, to catch their flight next morning to other places that they wanted to visit before heading back to DC. As soon the McGees left, Tony and Ziva cleaned up the mess, spent some time with Tali as they cleaned her up for the night, they decided to sweep Tali up to take her to the couch, and watched some Disney movie together.

"Hey my sweetcheeks, what you think of today?" tony asked Ziva with soft tone as he looked at Ziva

"I think today turned out a great day, this is perfect end of night with you and Tali, she looks so peaceful watching the movie, I am sure she will fall sleep before it ends," Ziva replied with a soft smile.

"Oh yeah, I agree with you. I am glad to see McGee and his family doing well, and I would sleep on the team leading idea for now. Right now I am not sure, and I want to spend as much time with you, and Tali."

"Yeah, I agree with you, only the time will tell when and we will know when we feel is right thing to do, sleeping on it is good idea, we just enjoy ourselves in every moment together. Like we say, we just go with the flow, one thing a time and one day a time is best way for us to handle for now," Ziva replied in a firm tone as Ziva rested on Tony's shoulder and sighed in relief.


	2. Valentine

On Saturday morning, Feb 1st, Tony was turning over on the bed. As he woke up by the sound, he was facing toward to the master bathroom, realizing the light was on, so he turned around, noticed Ziva was not there, so Tony got out of the bed, walked to the bathroom door, knocked the door gently and Tony was calling for Ziva, if she was alright.

"Oh Tony, yeah...I am sick, it must be the flu. I have the one Tali had last week," Ziva answered softly as she just finished what she had to do.

Tony opened the door, being concerned for Ziva then he sat down on floor to comfort Ziva as much he could. Then Ziva laid on Tony's lap, spoke softly with Tony.

"Tony, I have not had any time of month, I am late, and I have been sick for almost a week. It is just nausea and some food I smelled, it just annoying me so much and it reminds me..."Ziva trailed off.

Tony replied, "Alright, what remind you of what?" Then all sudden Tony heard Ziva snoring, realized she had fallen asleep. He comforted her, then picked her up in his arms, carried her to the bed, and made sure Ziva was under the covers. Then he went to the bathroom, cleaned the mess and made it all smell good. As soon he was done cleaning with bathroom, he went to the living room to rest on couch with his laptop since he can't sleep, by being worried about Ziva and he wanted to let Ziva rest to get well. Tony had wondered so many things like what it was when Ziva was pregnant with Tali, what her pregnancy was like, did she have morning sickness all that in his thoughts that he was wondering. Tony would only guess that Ziva was having the flu even though he had wondered if Ziva being pregnant again was the case. Tony eventually dozed off on the couch, exhausted from taking care of Ziva and Tali.

That morning, Ziva woke up, looking around realizing that she had slept too long on the bed, so she got out of bed, walking to bathroom to freshen up. Then she walked down the hallway, noticed Tony at kitchen table doing his work on his laptop, and Tali watching her cartoons in her playroom, which is only across the room that had big wall that can see through from the kitchen. As Ziva walked closely to Tony from behind, she whispered to Tony as she hugged Tony affectionately.

"Tony, I noticed I slept in for too long, thank you so much for letting me rest as much I could, I think I feel much better," Ziva whispered as she kissed Tony's head.

"My sweetcheeks, yeah you did sleep for a good while, you must have been so tired, from being sick and taking care of Tali. I am just glad Tali is all recovered from her flu she had that she must have caught from the preschool kids and I think she's ready to go school on Monday, don't you think?"

"Oh yeah, I am just glad Tali is much better, poor her; she had rough month. After New Year's Tali started preschool, 2 weeks later, she got sick that sure got us worried about her. I am grateful for good doctors we have for Tali, I think Tali is ready for school on Monday, as long we keep her all healthy with everything, and I think she will be fine," Ziva answered in her confident tone.

"Alright, that sounds good, are you up to something easy to eat, I can make you toast and hot tea?" Tony asked in gentle way.

"Sure, toast sounds nice and some hot tea sounds good. I don't know why I did not want drink coffee, for some reason I thought tea would help sooth my tummy ache. I think I will feel a lot better once I eat something," Ziva answered back as she spoke gently.

Tony got up to go fix Ziva some food, and he would make sure there is enough food for Tali. Ziva grabbed her laptop that was also sitting on the kitchen table, and opened it up to check her emails. Perusing the unread emails, she noticed an odd email, which she realized was encrypted.

"That's strange..." she muttered to herself.

She realized that the only person that could help Ziva was McGee but she did not want to bother him in DC. Ziva had mentioned it to Tony; he thought it was odd but they both assumed it could be just a garbled email so they put it aside for now. Once Ziva, Tony, and Tali were finishing up their lunch, Ziva decided to work on some things on her laptop and Tony would finish up what he was doing on his laptop. They made some plans for their future while Tali took her afternoon nap.

"Again?!" Ziva scoffed. "Tony, I just got those weird emails again, look at this!" she exclaimed indignantly while pointing at her laptop.

"What is it with those weird emails again? Man, I might need to call McGeek about this," Tony answered in a concerned tone.

"Tony, hey look, there is another one coming in, I think we should call McGee about this," Ziva replied in concerned tone.

Tony pulled out his cellphone and dialed McGee's desk to ask him about those weird emails that seem to be suspect.

"McGeek, you still getting headslapped?" Tony asked, Ziva giving Tony an exasperated look at his ribbing.

"Hi, no, just running around on cases like a chicken with his head cut off, I just sat down at my desk from being out on the field with Gibbs, so what's up, is everything ok?" McGee answered on phone to Tony.

"Well, Ziva have been getting those weird emails that are encrypted, and it looks suspect. So, what do you suggest for me to do? I just don't feel right about all this... I wonder if someone is trying to get into Ziva's head. I thought you had her laptop checked before she came home?" Tony asked with a baffled tone to his voice.

Ziva grabbed the phone from Tony's hand.

"McGee, Ziva here, did you make sure the laptop have no viruses or any bugs placed or anything?" Ziva asked McGee

"Well, yes, I had your laptop all cleared with no bugs or anything, we double and triple checked, all of us, Vance and Gibbs included, that your laptop is secured as desired. Why don't you forward those emails to me, I'll check them out and see what's what."

"Ah I see, alright that sounds good, I will have them forwarded to you, and please let me know what is happening and I really hope we are in clear with no problems. I hope I did not let my guards down just because I am back home with my family, please let me know if we are not out of woods yet." Ziva spoke in firm tone as she is really unsure of everything going on.

"Alright, I hear ya, and I will take care of it, I will inform Gibbs and let him know what is happening, you both hang in there. Boss wants me, hang tight and I'll get to the bottom of this." McGee responded.

"Alright, that sounds good, take care bye bye"

Ziva and Tony replied in a calm tone as they looked at each other.

Days later, as Tony and Ziva went on doing errands, Ziva could not shake those feelings of unease, and told Tony as much. This concerned Tony, but he couldn't address that as the doorbell rang. Tali started running to the door to open it, but Tony intercepted Tali before she could get to the door. As Ziva opened the door, she looked around, then noticed the package on the doorsteps, and realized that was something they were not expecting. Ziva looked at Tony, and said, "This package feels suspicious."

Tony thought it is best to call the police and have bomb squad over. Ziva got real bad anxiety attacks as she grabbed Tali, ran to the bedroom. Tony rushed to call the police, and requested them to bring the bomb squad over.

Police came, and investigated the box, the bomb squad investigated it, checked the package, and there was no bomb in it, but a pile of letters addressed to Ziva, all wrapped in a bow saying Ziva, just for you. Tony went to bring Ziva out of the house to see the letters and a note, Ziva rejected them, told them to take it to NCIS ASAP. The police agreed with her, to have them sent to NCIS to have it examined. She knew it was not anyone that she knows wrote that, but the writings she saw on the envelope looked so familiar, but she could not figure out who it was from since no return address.

Ziva and Tony went in the house to comfort Tali, and made sure she feel safe by singing her some Hebrew songs that helped her to relax. Once Tali fell sleep on the couch by Tony as he sat with Ziva to discuss things, to prepare for the worst.

"Tony, I am trying to figure out who is the next person and that person seems to be someone that knows me," Ziva try to calm down as she replied to Tony.

"I understand; I am trying to think who it would be? We might have to call Gibbs and let him know what is happening. Everything will be ok, my sweetcheeks," Tony comforted Ziva, as he replied with gentle tone.

Tony picked up his phone, made a phone call to Gibbs and set it on speakerphone so Ziva and Tony can talk with Gibbs and McGee in the background.

"Hi Gibbs, I think something is not right around here, did you get the chance to see the emails?" Tony asked Gibbs with a concerned tone.

"Hello, yeah McGee and I are working on those emails, and Vance is helping us with some intel to track those emails, also we just heard that we will be expecting the package that arrived at your house, we will inspect it then we will let you know." Gibbs replied with a firm tone.

"Yeah, I kept wracking my brain, and I come up with nothing. Nothing that stands out, at least," Tony answered with a mixture of puzzlement and concern.

"Maybe something to do with one of your old cases? That is something I am trying to go through old cases, yours and Ziver's, and McGee is tracking the emails and Ellie is here, she work for NSA part time so she have some intel for us then we will let you know, but for now you both need to stay put." Gibbs responded with a firm, slightly annoyed tone.

"Gibbs! The old cases I had in files, I thought most of them were already reviewed by you and Vance recently when I was there?" Ziva spoke up on the speakerphone.

"Ziver, we have all of your old files and cases that we worked on before, I also got Tony's files and all cases, and I am trying to see if anything was related to the cases, we will do our best to get to the point when we will know who it is." Gibbs replied as he looked at Tim and Ellie, as if he might know who it would be stalking Ziva and Tony.

"Ah I see, alright, just let us know when you know something, and I sense you needed to go back to work, I shall let you go but I will keep our eyes peeled and if things gets worse, will you help us? Remember what I told you how I feel about being abandoned," Ziva replied as she spoke in a way that she reminded Gibbs what she had told him before, making sure he is not abandoning her and her family.

"Ziver, don't worry, like I told you before you left, you are ready, you know your surroundings, and you know what to do, yes I need to go, I am seeing Vance coming down the stairs, got to go now, you both stay put please." Gibbs hung up.

Tony put down the phone, went to see if Ziva needed some help with Tali since Tali had woke up from her nap crying. Ziva was sitting on her recliner in Tali's room, rocking Tali in her arms as she noticed Tony walking in the room then she reached out for Tony's hand, kissed his hand and looked at Tony.

"Oh my Tony, Tali woke up crying, I thought she was sick again but she just wanted her Ima, I think she is sensing things just like I could. I can sense things, I can hear things like warning signs, I have those gifts that I have had for many years, I am used to have them. I thought they would go away when I left NCIS, but it is still there and I think I know what Gibbs is trying to say. I think he is suspecting something, and I think we need to be prepared" Ziva spoke as she controlled her anxiety, held back her tears as she try not to think about running away or abandoning the family all over again to protect the family.

Tony looked at Ziva, as he sat on Tali's bed, he would start to ponder what if Ziva would run away and abandon him and Tali all over again.

"Ziva, I agree with you, I sensed something at times, I am not surprised if everyone in NCIS seems to know something that they did not want us to worry, but Gibbs's tone and the way he spoke, I wonder if he is trying to tell us something as if we need to stay on our toes. I really can't afford to lose you all over again, Tali does not do well without her Ima." Tony spoke as he struggled not to show his worries and held back his tears.

"Tony, I think there is something going on, I am not considering to run away or abandon you both even though I had those thoughts in my head, I just can't do this to you both, so we might have to run away together, time will tell when we all need to leave." Ziva replied as she looked at Tony in a serious tone where she had made her mind up to take her family with her if she needed to run away again.

"My sweetcheeks, I think that would work, we just stay put and keep our eyes peeled on signs of trouble." Tony replied as he comforted Ziva as he looked at Ziva as she was comforting Tali.

On Feb 10th, Ziva woke up that morning feeling sick, so she had her business in bathroom, trying to not wake Tony up. So hard she could try not to cry realizing that she could be pregnant, but she was unsure of herself if that was the case. Ziva was also wondered what Tony would react about her being pregnant again, even wondered what it would be like to be pregnant while Tony is with her. Ziva decided to put these thoughts aside, and went to make some phone calls to see a doctor about her sickness she had been having at times. Tony was all supportive to allow her go to see the doctor about her sickness, just to make sure she was alright. Ziva, Tony and Tali went to the town, to see the doctor once the appointment was over with, Ziva and Tony decided to go to the mall, Ziva was feeling better and wanted to take Tali to the mall that had a big treehouse for the children to play in a huge room while parents shop.

Ziva and Tony decided to walk around near the playroom then they saw their friends, then Tony needed to go to a jewelry store while Ziva was with Tali at the playroom. Ziva was looking around carefully once she suddenly sensed something was watching her, then all sudden Ziva turned around, gasped realizing it was Tony patting her shoulder.

"Whoa, it is just me Tony, I am sorry I did not mean to startle you," Tony spoke gently as he carefully comforted Ziva.

"Oh Tony, I just about to have those anxiety attacks all sudden when I just sensed something is not right, for a moment I thought I saw someone standing watching us over there, he is not there now." Ziva responded as she felt safe in Tony's arms.

"Ah I see, so I'm not the only one seeing things... had someone following me when I was going to the store over there, I think we should go now, we shall gather Tali, and we just go home, sounds good?" Tony quietly said, scanning the surroundings without being obvious.

"Sounds good, here Tali is, let's go," Ziva answered as she took Tali's hand and Tony's arm as they walked toward the door. Tony was very worried and Ziva was trying to figure things out as they took Tali, left the mall as they zoomed, whoever had lost the track of Tony's car since Ziva had drove real quick enough to disappear into busy traffic. That night, Ziva and Tony tucked Tali in bed, they read book and sang some songs until Tali fell sleep, Tony went to the sunroom, as Ziva went to see him there, as they decided to have some quiet time together. Ziva was sitting on a sofa, beside the recliner that Tony always sat on, they looked at each other and held hands.

"Tony, what a day, I am glad I went to the doctor to make sure I am ok, they say I am ok. I just thought why not enjoy our time at the mall, I just want Tali to have fun as much we can help her feel comfortable, not to worry her or scare her." Ziva responded to Tony, being careful not to bring up the pregnancy topic, as she was unsure how to broach the subject. After all, Tony had never seen her pregnant with Tali before. She had been wanting to tell Tony when the time was right.

"Ziva, I am glad you are doing alright, I agree with you about today, it was not too bad until tonight at the mall. I am just hoping it is nothing, just some people looking at us and I did not see a car following us," Tony replied back as he held Ziva's hand, then kissed her hand, as he smiled being happy to be with Ziva.

"Yeah, all is good for now, and I hope you are right, but we should keep our eyes peeled, we might have to take Tali out of school for her own safety. I am not sure but if things gets bad, we will have to decide what we need to do, and if Gibbs or NCIS can't help us in time, we will run away together," Ziva responded back as she sat close to Tony to rest her head on his shoulder, pondering things in her head as she looked up at the sky as the stars and the full moon slowly wheeled about overhead, enjoying the view through the open window with Tony.

"That sounds good, if things gets worse, we will pull Tali out of school and we will go somewhere, probably back to New York. Maybe my dad would, you know, welcome us all in his arms, he is living in a nice old Victorian house with plenty rooms all that in some private property, he got it through his real-estate dealings which I don't really care for, but that is my dad, but as long as he does his business well I'm fine with it. I know he is a good guy in his own ways, he means well, he would do anything for us if I ask him. I am sure Gibbs and my Dad would make deal on a safe house just like this in the states, what you think?" Tony asked Ziva as he looked at her. She gazed back, weighing whether it was worth having his father provide the family with a safe place.

"It is possible that we may have no choice but to rely on him. Yes, I am the mother of his granddaughter, and you are his son, but I do not want to involve him if we do not have to. But I know he will help us all in a heartbeat, he would do anything for us. So, if we leave here, if things get worse, this house you built for us, we may not see this house again. I am hoping that Gibbs would call us and let us know what we need to do, I think he trusts me, he knows I would do anything for the family," Ziva said at length.

"Yeah, well, I think if we don't hear back within a couple days, we'll just take off, you, me, Tali, and go where it's safe. Under different situations, I would let my Dad and Gibbs know that we will be moving back to New York, but right now I think we might have to be prepared for the worst." Tony responded to Ziva, looking at her, kissed her softly as he comforted Ziva, as he was worried about what will happen but he felt confident in Gibbs as he was hoping that Gibbs would help him and his family. Ziva looked at Tony, kissed him back and hugged him tightly, as she let him know how much she loves him, and their daughter, Tali. Tony told Ziva how much he loved her and their daughter as much as she does then he hugged Ziva, noticed the time on their phone, as they realized it was getting real late so they decided to go bed for the night.

Once Ziva woke up in the morning, she noticed that her morning sickness had been replaced by an irresistible craving for good food, so she decided to cook up some Texas-sized French toast and cut up some fruit for breakfast. As she was preparing to cook, and turned coffee on to be brewed, Tony came to the kitchen all smiles to see Ziva being in great mood, so he hugged Ziva gently as he kissed her softly, Tali had run through the room joyfully to see her Ima in kitchen to cook breakfast.

"Happy Valentine's day my dear sweetcheeks, it is really good to see you back in here this early morning, you do the best cooking, and I am glad you are feeling better," Tony responded as he was walking closer to Ziva to reach the coffee cup.

"Oh my dear Tony, happy Valentine's. I just woke up this morning feeling great, I thought I was in mood to cook French toast, I know it is your favorite breakfast right?" Ziva replied with a sweet smile, winked at Tony as she was preparing the griddle.

"Oh yeah, I love it when you make the best French toast for breakfast, it is good to see you smiling, you look lovely when you smile." Tony replied softly as he kissed Ziva softly knowing it made his day to see Ziva being so happy. Moments later, Ziva and Tony were placing food on the table, Tali was in her cheery mood, saying her happy Valentines to her Abba and Ima. Once everyone was finished with breakfast, Tali went to her Ima's lap, begging her to not take her to school, and Ziva was wondering why as she held Tali, Ziva softly spoke to Tali, "Oh my dear, why is that? I thought you love school and see friends there."

Tali became quiet and whispered to her Ima, "Ima, I like school but I don't want to go today, I wanna stay with you, Ima and I want be with Abba too, it is Valentine's day, I want to spend the day with you both, please?"

Ziva's breath caught slightly as she hugged Tali gently. She looked at Tony, and spoke under her breath, "Tony, something is setting her off. I wonder if..."

Tony must have seen it too, for he decided to follow his gut sense. "Alright, Tali, I think I have a better idea, Tali, you may stay home to be with us today, everything will be alright, my darling," he said.

Tali squealed into joy knowing that she can be with her IMA and ABBA for Valentines day. Ziva was relieved to see Tali being happy to be home, then she spent most of the day cleaning and doing some work on her laptop while Tali had played and enjoyed herself being near her parents.

Tony then retreated to his study. As Tony opened up his laptop, his phone rang as he realized it was McGee.

Tony walked out of his study slowly as he answered his phone, "

"Hello, what's up? McGee"

"Tony, those emails you sent me? We have a situation. I can't say on phone what, but it directly involves you and her. Gibbs is upstairs with Vance and I am on my way there." McGee responded carefully so as not to reveal any sensitive information over a potentially non-secure line.

Tony turned around, looking at Ziva, as he walked closer to Ziva, Tony said "Okay, so what does Gibbs want us to do?"

McGee replied to Tony "Boss said you both stay put, we will call you soon, I got to go my bro", then hung up.

Tony looked puzzled at the messages he just heard from McGee before he hang up the phone in a hurry.

Ziva looked at Tony carefully, trying not to freak out but being cautious and Ziva said "Tony, what is going on here?

Tony comforted Ziva, and spoke gently, "Ziva, not sure what's up, you know McGeek... but McGee sounded off, but he did say he will call us soon."

This did not ease Ziva's unease, so she paced the living room slowly and in deep thought. Tony walked up to her, to try to help her be at ease, but Ziva brushed him off and said, "No, Tony. Everything just feels wrong..."

Tony said "My sweetcheeks Ziva, I think what we need to do is to trust Gibbs and his team to take care of everything. Still, it wouldn't be a bad idea to - "

"Ima!" Tali shouted from her bedroom. Ziva bolted from the room, heading for Tali's room. Upon reaching Tali's room, she noticed that Tali was struggling to put her dress on. As Ziva helped Tali put her dress on, something prompted Ziva to look up, and as she did, she caught a glimpse of a figure dressed in black off in the distance through the bedroom window. Putting her anxiety aside, she finished getting Tali ready.

"Tony, you ready?" she yelled out.

Tony replied in the affirmative and they all piled into the car.

"All good?" Tony asked once she got into the car.

Some time before reaching the restaurant, Ziva thought she had noticed a suspicious car, a few vehicles behind, so she said "Watch that guy, four cars back."

Tony looked at the mirror, and muttered "Yeah, I've been noticing him the last few blocks," Tony kept driving.

"Well, I guess old tricks die hard..." Ziva said.

However, after a few quick turns and double-backs, they managed to lose their tail, and so they continued on to the dining establishment that they were going to, for their Valentine's celebration.

As they settled in at their table after being seated, Tony and Ziva looked at Tali, as Tali was all happy with paper and crayons, as Tali was drawing some hearts.

She would tell her Ima, "Ima, that is heart!"

Ziva giggled as she told Tali, "that is a red heart, and who's heart is that? Ziva pointed it out to Tali. Tali pointed the hearts, that is Abba, Ima, Tali."

"Ah that is good, who is the 4th one?"

Tali was looking up at ceiling, as she laughed pointing finger at ceiling.

Tony and Ziva giggled with her looking around then they looked at each other, Tony reached out got Ziva's hand and say "My sweetcheeks, I just want to say how much I am thankful to have you back in my life, even back in Tali's life, I want you know you will never be alone, I will always be with you, I love you very much, and it is so good have you being in my life, and it is good to see how happy Tali to have her mother back."

Ziva smiled at Tony, staring at his sweet eyes, and knowing how much she loves Tony, she would never want to leave him again, she knew Tony is his soulmate, and she knows that she will have Tony rest of her life because he is the father of her daughter and a baby that she is carrying, his another child. Ziva looked at Tali, and spoke gently to Tali as Tony looked on, as he smiled at his lovely woman and daughter.

"Tali, I like those hearts you drew, I really hope your Abba and I will spend our lives together and we will always be a family, because I have great news to tell you and your Abba..." Ziva was about to say something but Tony's phone rang, as she looked around at Tony to see what is going on.

Before Tony could put his hand in his pocket to get the phone, there was a commotion as military personnel rushed into the restaurant through its multiple points of entry, Tony jumped out of the chair to run to grab Ziva at the same time Ziva was grabbing Tali, as Tali screamed in fright for her Ima. Before Tony and Ziva could realize what was happening, the military quickly escorted them out of the restaurant. Tali was crying and screaming in Ziva's arms as Tony held around Ziva and Tali as they was being whisked away through the back door into a huge black van, then the van had zoomed in a hurry with police cars.


	3. Cheyenne Mountains

In the back of the wildly pitching van, Tony consoled Tali, as she was understandably frightened by the whole ordeal, and Ziva took a moment to compose herself. Noticing that there were no windows that they could see out, Ziva looked at the corporal, who had an expressionless look on his face.

"What's the purpose of this?" Ziva asked the corporal.

"Orders, ma'am, to protect you and your family. We're taking the long way around to the airport. Intel came in that someone's looking for you and your family. I'm sorry, I can't say more." The corporal looked away.

"Alright, you do realize we're perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves?" Ziva said.

The corporal looked back in her direction. "Sorry, orders, ma'am."

After an hour and half drive, the van made a turn, onto the tarmac of the Cairo Airport, and after a short drive, the van door was opened, the sight of a business jet greeting them. Tony and Ziva came out of the van with Tali in tow, then walked up the stairs to the Gulf Stream. The captain flying the plane started going through the preflight checklist for engine start as the door was closed behind them. As soon Ziva sat by the window, Tali got to sit her seat in middle of her and Tony, they looked at each other as they held their hands to prepare themselves for the take off. Moments after the plane got on the air, Tony looked at Ziva, noticed her looking out of window,

"Well, I guess that escalated pretty quickly..." Tony reached out his arm around Ziva, as he looked at Tali doing her coloring papers.

"I wonder if this situation is serious enough to rate a Gulfstream, and I wonder of this whole thing got to do with Gibbs?" Ziva looked around to Tony, as she asked him.

After being in the air for hours, they came in for a landing at Dulles. The trio stirred awake from resting during the flight, and when the plane had landed and taxied to the hardstand, and Tony noticed a couple of people walking to the plane.

"I think I see a couple of familiar faces there..." Tony muttered to himself, then as he realized who it was, he added, "Oh. It's Gibbs coming with McGee".

"Oh Gibbs and McGee are here, Tali, look who is here," Ziva looked around to see them walking closer.

Tali ran towards Gibbs and McGee, screaming "Papa Gibbs! Uncle Tim!" They hid their surprised looks as Gibbs and McGee walked toward them. As Gibbs approached Tony, he reached out and gave him a slap up side the back of his head.

"Oh that head-slap, what did I do now?"

"Never let your guard down! Tony, we tried to call you and Ziva many times – no response - we had to send the cavalry and it's a good thing we got to you first. I am just glad you three just went to the restaurant, and not off grid, or God forbid, D-E-A-D!" Gibbs shot back in an authoritarian tone, spelling the last word out so as not to scare Tali.

"Ahh I see, I am sorry I had my phone on silent mode, I am sorry I did not answer the phone, we were working on our bolt plan, you guys found us first. Why now?" Tony held back the anger in his voice.

"Gibbs, can you tell us what this situation is? Does it involve any of our old cases?" Ziva asked Gibbs, reaching out to Tali and trying to keep her anxiety in control.

"Not here. Too sensitive." Gibbs guided the group to the awaiting vehicles. Ziva shot a look at Gibbs, who said nothing further.

"This whole situation smells of fish," Ziva said.

Tony interjected, "Smells fishy," which earned him a look from Ziva that said "are you serious?"

After they arrived at NCIS, Gibbs and McGee stopped by their desks to pick up some folders, then motioned for Tony to follow them. Ziva, holding Tali, motioned for Tony to go on ahead, then took Tali to the break room.

As they were walking on the way to Vance's office, Tony spoke up: "Well, for your information, I was about to do something special for Ziva, you know, maybe propose to her at the restaurant, and then in comes the cavalry, rushing in to sweep us up and fly us across the pond, now what's the big deal?" Tony asked Gibbs in a slightly irritated voice.

Tim's eyes brightened. "Nice, proposing to Ziva, congrats!"

Gibbs gave McGee a head-slap for that. "Situation's changed. That's gonna have to wait. Wait, you said propose to Ziva?" Gibbs suddenly stopped mid-stride.

"Uh, yes? As in, ask her to marry me?" Tony said.

Gibbs shook his head, and said, "Focus on the situation at hand right now. It will all work out."

Upon entering Vance's office Vance welcomed everyone his office, but before he could close the door, Ziva walked in.

"Tali?" Tony asked.

Ziva smiled at Tony and gave both him and McGee a quick look. "Delilah showed up, and offered to take Tali off my hands for a bit while I – we – got to the bottom of this."

Ziva, and Tony was wondering what was happening as they asked Vance and Gibbs what was really going on here. So Vance went to them, sat down to let them know something.

"Alright, a situation had developed that we had to get you both and your daughter out here. You'll be headed to a safe house somewhere near Cheyenne, somewhere close to the mountains soon as soon as this meeting finishes, and you both will be in good hands, we will make sure of it."

Vance carefully explained to Tony and Ziva as Gibbs sat quietly. Ziva and Tony looked at each other, in worried look.

"Cheyenne? What's way out there? It doesn't make sense here?" Tony muttered to Vance as he sounded puzzled.

"Vance, what is really going on here? Is it one of Sahar's, one of Ari's? I was positive that Sahar's people are dead, and Adam died because of them, I don't understand what is going on here," Ziva stepped in to speak up in a tone where she would want Vance to be more specific.

Vance slapped a folder down onto his table and slid it to Ziva. "What about Ray? We suspect that he may be sending communications to people outside the prison, despite extreme security measures."

The picture on the folder, along with the name, was like a slap to Ziva's face. Tony must have seen the look, for he said, "Wait, you mean Ray, that CIA Ray?"

"Oh my, that despicable character. What's he trying to do now?" Ziva replied as she tried not to think too hard about Ray, happy that he is behind bars.

"Well, there's a couple of hitmen escaped a max-security prison. Classic laundry truck, guard overpower type escape, only it went kinda sideways, ended up killing a couple guards. The catch? Ray's guys." Gibbs said.

Vance walked around and sat on the edge of his desk. "Which means, they are out there to do whatever Ray asked them to do: stalk you both, then tell Ray all the intel. The other danger, related to this, is Ray has also escaped with the two henchmen. That is not being covered in the news – just the two henchmen – and let me tell you. He is very obsessive and angry man, he got pictures of Ziva all over in his cell. One of those people was at your farmhouse property but, and I stress, _but _it was by good fortune that you left when you did. That man is no longer in the equation, thanks to our SEALs. Now, allow me to show you something..." Vance explained carefully to Ziva and Tony about what was happening. Tony and Ziva just sat there in disbelief of what they just heard, then saw the TV screen as they heard the news report saying the farmhouse had been destroyed in a fire and explosion, and that an investigation determined that the fire and explosion was caused by a man before he was killed by military personnel in a brief firefight that set off the explosion. The news reel continued on with the account that the man had started a gas leak and was in the process of setting a fire when he was caught and engaged in said firefight. Before everyone expected it, Ziva got up pacing around the room, and screamed in tears as she spoke and cursed in Hebrew. Tony got up, walking to hold Ziva from falling apart, and comforted her, keenly aware of her anxiety attacks that still strike on occasion. Tony kept his cool, looking at Gibbs and Vance.

"Farmhouse number two. What is it with people and blowing up farmhouses? Isn't one enough? That house, _I _built, with my own two hands! How dare that sleaze blow it up? How dare they? Why a target on our backs?" Vance went to Tony closer as Gibbs got up to be in middle, and told Tony that he should be glad Ziva is alive and in his arm for once again, Tony just stood there having Ziva crying in his arms, just too much information for him to digest. Tony comforted Ziva, then sat down with her, then he looked at the window, pondering.

"Alright, wow, this is a lot to take on right now, but if you think it's best that we mosey on over to Cheyenne, then so be it, and are you guys going to leave us hanging there, or what?" Tony questioned Vance at the same time Gibbs looked at Tony, tossing some files to Tony. Vance sat down, and composed himself and took a deep breath, then looked at Gibbs and Tony.

"Tony, here is the papers that we have worked on so far, sorry about all these redactions but a lot of it's classified. The thing is here, Ray probably thinks you guys got away by killing that man, but what he does not know is that we had intel that led us to him and thus us being able to back you both up, so for now it's Cheyenne. McGee and his family will be there also, so Tali will not be as alone, having the McGee twins to play with," Vance said.

Gibbs added, "The only people that will know where you will be are in this room. When it is all over, you both will hopefully be done with hiding then you both are free to live wherever you want, but right now there are people looking for you both – don't know how many - and I can't stand losing you both all over again, especially Ziva." Gibbs explained as much he could to make things easy for Tony and Ziva. Vance and Gibbs then got all the necessary paperwork for the travel ready, including identification papers for the destination.

"Alright, what will we do in the mountains? What will we do there?" Ziva asked Vance and Gibbs.

"Papers for you guys. McGee, I am putting you in NORAD where you'll use their MTAC to loop in to NCIS remotely, Tony, stay with McGee and help him. Ziver, we need your hookup with Israel, you're the liaison, work with Tony and McGee."

Ziva looked around briefly, then asked, "What about Tali?"

McGee said, "Ziva and Delilah can rotate as needed, but Delilah can handle it, no problem. We could also use her help with NSA if need be."

After the meeting broke up, they all left the building, leaving in separate unmarked vehicles, all heading different directions, all finally arriving at Dulles, where they boarded a different Gulf Stream, taking off at a very late hour. Once airborne, they were escorted by fighter jets almost the entire way to the Cheyenne airport.

Arriving at the Cheyenne airport at oh-dark-thirty, they met a military transport which took them to the NORAD facility, carved deep inside the hard granite mountains, they were brought deeper within the complex until they reached an office space a couple of levels down. They were suitably impressed by the scale of the facility, essentially a small city, self-contained, self-reliant, underground, a nexus of activity and communications that stood at the ready in case of the unthinkable. They were shown their respective work locations, and then MTAC itself. After they did the tour on some areas there, they went to other side of that NORAD facility, there was an elevator going one level down, it would be filled with many living quarters for staff and their families living there, there was also a gym, swimming pool, clubhouse, movie media room, nice cafe being provided and a mini mall to buy clothes needs. Once they found their own living quarters that is only across the hall from each other, they opened the door, Tony and Tim had a handshake as they sent their own family into their units.


	4. A Heartbeat with a Ring

At their living quarters, Tony, Ziva and Tali were exploring around the living room, kitchen, laundry room, bathroom, 2 bedrooms, and noticed those huge LED light monitors on the walls, giving the appearance of a window with a day-and-night view of the outside world. She surmised that every living quarters had that, so that the residents would feel more as if they are able to have a sort of connection to the outdoors, and not feel confined, squirreled away in some dank bunker, completely isolated from the world. When Ziva walked into one of bedrooms, she noticed that their clothes had been hung neatly in their closets, folded and put away in their dressers, bed already made and turned out, calm background music playing quietly through the in-ceiling speakers. As Ziva walked past Tali's new bedroom, Tali looked up at Ziva in excitement.

"Ima! Look at what I have! A dollhouse!" Tali shouted in glee.

Ziva's head swiveled around in Tali's direction, and she gasped both out of startledness and at the sight of the dollhouse, wondering where it came from. Tony followed close behind, also surprised to see that dollhouse, wondering why it looked so familiar.

"Where did you get the dollhouse, Tali?" Ziva asked.

"I walked in, and there it was!" Tali said happily. "Mine?"

Tony and Ziva looked at each other. "Sure, why not?" Tony waved at the dollhouse.

Ziva felt more at ease at that moment, knowing that in this temporary home, there was a chance for Tali to be safe, out of harm's way.

Next morning, as the alarm went off, Tony turned over to turn off the alarm, and turned the light on dim, so as not to wake Ziva, then laid back in bed to look at Ziva sleeping beside him, _his_ sleeping beauty, then gently stroked her hair from her face, then leaned over slowly and kissed the top of her head softly. Ziva stirred, opening her eyes, smiling at Tony. How he makes me feel so safe, in control, thought Ziva, as she gazed at Tony lying in bed. Ziva reached out her hand on Tony, asked him to come closer to her, desired to kiss him and Tony leaned to her, kissed her gently as he gently put his hand on her belly, and wanted to give her some attention as Ziva wanted some embracing love to explore with Tony, as they stirred around in bed as they hugged, kissed as Tony told Ziva how much he loves her, and want to be all hers to love all she wants from him. Ziva smiled as she kissed and gently told him "please move your knee" as she turned around on top of Tony, and shushed him as he tried to talk, and bade him to let things flow while they explored the boundaries of their affections without any interruptions while waking up.

A short while later, Tony and Ziva got up and got ready for the day, and made some breakfast as Tali got out of bedroom walking to Ziva, wanting to be held, a morning routine for Tali, as she always wanted to be cuddled every morning when she wakes up. Ziva picked Tali up and set her on the counter.

"Good morning, my sweet Tali!" Ziva said, smiling. "Looks like is Abba getting ready. When Abba goes to work, we need to clean house a bit, then meet up with Delilah and the twins today. We might even get to go to the play area, sounds good?" Ziva comforted Tali as Tony took a sip of his coffee before setting the cup down on the table. He then pushed his chair back and got up to walk around closer to Ziva and Tali.

"Tali, I'm sure you'll have so much fun with Johnny and Abby. Ima'll still be with you." Tony kneeled in front of Tali. "Aunt Delilah will take you kids to look around and see the play area with huge treehouse, ok?" Tony hugged Tali in an effort to comfort her before he put her down.

Ziva looked at Tali and said, "You may go on sit with Abba. I'm bringing breakfast soon, it is ok."

Tony took Tali's hand and guided her to the table as Ziva looked on and finished up cooking breakfast. As they were about to finish their breakfast, there was a knock at the door. Tony got up to answer the door, only to see McGee on the other side of the door, smiling at Tony.

"You're needed in MTAC," McGee said.

Tony looked at Ziva briefly, then back at McGee. "Does this also involve her?"

Tim raised his eyebrows once. "Uhm, no it doesn't, sorry."

"Uh-oh, doesn't sound good, someone pissed at me or something?" Tony ribbed McGee.

Tim shrugged his shoulders and gave a blank "I-don't-know" look. Tony went to Ziva, and kissed and hugged Ziva goodbye.

"Abba, you will come back home when you are done working?" Tali had gotten out of her chair and walked up to Ziva, clutching her leg with one thumb in her mouth. "Of course I will," Tony smiled at her, then he hugged her, kissed her forehead, then tickled Tali, eliciting some squeals and laughter from her.

A while after Tony and Tim left on their respective ways, Ziva and Tali were about to get ready to go over to meet Delilah and the twins, she heard a knock. Thinking it was Delilah, since it was approximately the right time for her to meet her, Ziva went to the door, and opened it, and was surprised to see him.

"Gibbs! What brings you here?" Ziva asked, the surprise evident in her voice.

Tali looked up and squealed in delight. "Papa Gibbs!" She ran to him and clung onto him in a tight hug as he bent down to hug her. Gibbs chuckled at Tali in sort of a grandfatherly tone. Ziva looked at Tali, laughter in her eyes.

"Hi Ziver," Gibbs said with a smile on his face. "How's Tali doing? More to the point, how are you all doing?"

Ziva sighed slightly, then said "Fine for the moment."

At that moment, the door across the hall opened and the twin kids ran out of the door to head out to the play area, but as they saw a tall figure standing with Tali, they realized that it was Gibbs after a moment. In a flash, the twins were all over Gibbs in joy. Gibbs bent down to hug the children and chuckled warmly at them. Ziva looked on smiling, realizing that somewhere beneath the crusty exterior that Gibbs always wore, there is a soft side to him, grandfatherly towards the children, and, more importantly, being the Abba that she really needed.

"Hey Johnny, did you like the Legos and toolset that I sent it for you?" Gibbs smiled, asking one of the twins.

"Oh that was from you? Wow, that's awesome! I thought it was from my parents, but they said no! I love them, thank you, Gibbs!" Johnny perked up in a smile looking at Gibbs.

Delilah raised her eyebrows, smiled at Gibbs, and said, "Wow, nice! So I take it that the dollhouse that Morgan showed me was from you too?"

Gibbs chuckled at her, but said nothing in reply.

"Johnny, you are welcome. You'll be able to fix stuff around the house when needed. Take good care of them and they will last you a long time. Those doll houses? I built those for your sister and Tali."

Morgan and Tali perked up as they realized that their Papa made the dollhouse for these little girls, they went up to hug Gibbs, thanked him with a kiss on his cheek as Gibbs got down to hug the girls. Ziva and Delilah smiled in happy tears knowing how much the kids meant a lot to Gibbs, and thanked him with their hug and a kiss on his cheek.

"Alright you kids, go ahead have fun at the play area, I might stop by before I leave," Gibbs looking at the children, calming the excitement, then he looked at Ziva. Seeing the look that Gibbs would typically give when he wanted to talk in private, Ziva knelt down in front of Tali as she held her hand.

"Tali, you can go with Delilah. Johnny and Morgan are going to be there at the play area too. Ima will be back in a little bit." Ziva smiled as she stroked Tali's hair back from her eyes.

As Ziva watched Tali recede into the distance with Delilah, a momentary look of anxiety fleeted across her face.

"Ziver, I managed to get away from DC, wanted to check in with you. Some things I wanted to talk with you about," Gibbs looked into Ziva's eyes.

"So what's up? Something to do with what Tim was telling Tony about MTAC?" Ziva replied to Gibbs as she looked at him with an intent gaze.

"Yup. Caught one of Ray's guys. Couple guards caught him up in Navy Yard, looked like he was trying to hide from the cameras or something." Gibbs raised his eyebrows and shrugged, continuing on. "Fool thought he could get past the guards, but they shot him before he could get away. He took this," Gibbs held out a USB thumb drive.

"Anything on it?" Ziva asked.

Gibbs shook his head. "That's the thing – it was empty. But his burner phone had one phone number – another burner. Another one of his agents?"

Ziva grunted exasperatedly. "What does he have against me? That I smashed his life by sending him to prison?"

"Dunno. Reason why they went to MTAC? Rumors are that he may be hanging around in Mexico. Probably issued commands to whoever these guys are, then isolated himself, I think, so it doesn't come back to him." Gibbs said.

"That Ray. He has no guts to come face me himself. Such a coward." Ziva cursed in Hebrew. "So what if I had smashed his life. It seem he did not like that his choices led to him being put in prison for life, and thus he flew the henhouse so he could finish his agenda." Ziva said indignantly.

Gibbs chuckled and said "He flew the coop, not henhouse."

"Gibbs. What's his agenda for going after me and Tony?" Ziva looked at Gibbs, wondering how long it would before she and her family could stop running and going into hiding. Ziva grasped Gibbs' arm and stopped walking so she could frame her thoughts.

"Only thing that I could come up with is revenge. Personal, the way he's going after you." Gibbs calmly spoke.

"Makes sense, the determination that we see from him. He will not stop until one of us is dead. I am not about to let that happen." Ziva shook her head, then said, "Gibbs, since you are here, can we just talk?" Ziva asked Gibbs, as they resumed walking down the hallway slowly.

"Sure, Ziver. I'm all ears." Gibbs said. He suddenly noticed a certain expression appear on her face.

Ziva laughed softly. "I have not told Tony this, because I am not sure how he will react. I have only found out recently. Every time I wanted to, something would come up."

Gibbs suddenly stopped. "Told Tony what?"

"I'm pregnant. I am just worried how he will react, he was never there when I told him I was pregnant with Tali, I just don't know what he will do or react."

Gibbs looked at her, and said, "Aw hell, Ziver, he'll be fine. I am sure he will be thrilled." Gibbs hugged Ziva, kissed her head, and whispered to her ear, saying "Everything will be alright, congratulations on the new baby."

Ziva smiled with a happy tear, hugged Gibbs and said "Thank you for being there for me."

Later that evening, as Ziva was finishing up the laundry, she heard the door being opened. Tony walked in, closed the door and walked to Ziva. He hugged her and gave her an "I'm-back" kiss. Tali stopped playing and turned up to face them, and squealed, "Abba's home!" She picked up her toys and zoomed toward her bedroom. Tony and Ziva laughed and told Tali that they will come in a few minutes, then sat down at the kitchen table.

"My sweetcheeks, guess who we ran into. Gibbs. Some news he brought us, I guess he came to see you too." Tony said.

"Yes he did. What did he have to say to you?" Ziva asked, a querying look on her face.

"Told me about one of Ray's fools who got himself shot and had an empty USB thumb drive on him, no clue what that's all about," Tony sighed. "Too bad the sucker ain't talking, on account of a little lead poisoning, aka 9mm rounds in the center mass. They think there are others out there."

"About as much as he told me. Well, after we talked, I came back home with Tali. All the laundry's done now. Better off doing than thinking." Ziva responded with a sweet look at Tony.

"Well, we can put all that aside for a few hours. McBabysitter's willing to watch Tali overnight, because I'd like to show you some things, you know, something like that under the circumstances," Tony said, walking to Ziva. Ziva perked up and gave Tony a huge smile, kissing him and hugged him, then she went off to get ready. Tony smiled back looking at Ziva zooming to bedroom, then he got up to go to the bedroom to get ready for the evening dinner plan that Tony and Gibbs had planned secretly to surprise Ziva. As Ziva sat down with Tali to explain that she would go stay with the McGees for a while, the doorbell rang. Tony went to the door to let Tim in.

"My sweet Tali, Abba and I will be out for few hours or so, so you will be staying with Tim, and Delilah, and get to play with Johnny and Morgan," Ziva spoke gently then she hugged her, kissed her cheek, and looked at Tony.

Tali was about to cry but her Abba saved her from getting too upset, by giving her the scarf, then sat with Tali, and spoke gently, 'It will be alright, you have your blanket and this scarf, you hold on these, just in case, Ima and I will be back before you know it." Tali calmed down, hugged her Abba, kissed his cheek, and told him that she love him from moon and back. Tony and Ziva smiled, told her they love her to moon and back here, then they guided Tali to Tim, then Tony and Tim walked to Tim's living quarter. Tony gave Tim the overnight backpack, quietly telling Tim that there were pullups in it in case there was a need for a change.

Then Tony and Ziva got onto the elevator, and they went up quite a few levels. Before they got off, Tony put a blindfold on Ziva and said, "I will guide you, but you have to keep that on, there's a surprise for you." Ziva nodded as the elevator doors opened, and Tony walked behind her as he held her shoulders, guiding her the entire distance to the destination.

Tony opened a door at the end of the long hallway, and guided Ziva into a room. He took the blindfolds off, allowing Ziva to take in the Paris-themed décor. She realized that they were in a sort of house, on top of the mountains, sequestered away from prying eyes. It was obvious that this 'house' was intended as an observation post, but in a pinch could serve as a clubhouse of sorts, to allow people from inside of the mountains to get away from the rigors of work and the confines of the underworld, allow them the view of sky without being seen by unwanted eyes. In the clubhouse kitchen, a chef was preparing the meals; a small fire crackled warmly in the fireplace, lending some warmth to the room through the chilly evening. Tony guided Ziva to a chair, and scooted her in to the candle-lit table, then sat down.

"Just thought I'd treat you to something that we never got a chance to finish..." Tony said.

"Oh, yes, before we were rudely interrupted..." Ziva said.

As evening slowly turned into night, the lights had dimmed with music playing. The chef brought out a platter with drinks and set them down in front of the couple. Tony and Ziva just could not stop looking at each other, smiled at each other, as they reached their hands to meet to be held.

"My sweetcheeks, you look so beautiful tonight. Figured that this would be the closest thing to our Paris... even chose our music. Nice meals to be served soon, and..." Tony picked up one wine glass. "Our drinks, I thought, why not a 1948 Zinfandel?" Tony gently spoke as he locked his eyes to Ziva, just looking at her made his heart all swell up, being happy to be with Ziva.

"Oh my Tony, this is so beautiful. What better way than to remember Paris?" Ziva smiled.

"Yeah, well, considering the situation, I figured, why not pick up where we left off, but I wanted this to be something special." Tony gazed into Ziva's eyes.

Ziva smiled at Tony gently, as she grabbed the glass of water in a wine glass to cheer with Tony. Tony took notice of this.

"Ziva, I thought you'd like this wine, but you chose water?" he asked. Suddenly he paused, finally noticing how radiant Ziva's eyes and face were.

'My Tony, I would love this wine from Paris, just not right now."

Tony's face slowly changed from puzzlement to one of wonder. "What are you trying to say, Ziva?"

Ziva moved the chair closer to Tony, and gave a card to him. It was one that Tali made, with the four hearts. "I had been waiting for the right time to tell you, and trying to figure out how to say this." Ziva spoke as she smiled at Tony.

Tony took a deep breath, as he opened the card, remembering when Tali showed them the card. As he did so, a picture fell out of the drawing, and Tony caught it before it landed on the floor.

"What? Are you...?" Tony realized that the picture he was looking at was a sonogram of a fetus.

"Yes, I'm pregnant. They say approximately two months," Ziva said, as Tony continued looking intently at the sonogram.

"Wow, what a surprise!" Tony looked at Ziva in joy. "Wait, does Tali know?"

"Not yet. But this card makes me wonder if she somehow knew..." Ziva pointed to the card. "The day she gave me this card, was the same day I had that morning sickness. That was why I had to go to the doctor to make sure I was OK." Ziva said.

The couple continued to gaze intently into each other's eyes as the chef brought out the main course.

"A toast, to good health for our family, then!" Tony raised his drink. Ziva followed suit with her water.

After they had completed their meal, quiet waltz music started playing on the overhead speakers. Ziva and Tony looked at each other with a knowing look, and they got up, walked to the floor, and they danced around as their music played. When there was a break in the music, Tony suddenly got down to one knee as he fumbled with something in his pocket.

"My sweetcheeks, with everything we have gone through together, I thought, why not make a complete family? Our ups and downs, our bests and worsts, we go through this together. Will you marry me and be my wife forever?" Tony asked, full of the pre-proposal jitters.

"Oh my, Tony! I have always felt that you are a wonderful man, actually the one that I want to have as my soulmate. I have seen that you are wonderful father to Tali, and for that I am very happy. I love you so much, and you make me feel complete. Yes, I would love to be your wife, forever my sweet Tony," Ziva answered, smiling to Tony before giving him a full-on kiss.

After the kiss, Tony managed to get the ring out of the box so he could show Ziva the engraving inside the ring saying "Tiva Forever". Ziva burst in happy tears looking at her ring, kissed Tony and told him that they are soulmates forever just like Tiva. He then put the ring onto her finger.

As the music played in background, the couple danced into the night. In the wee hours of the morning, they returned to their quarters, to find that it had already been cleaned by the staff.

"A Mrs. DiNozzo. Ziva DiNozzo..." Ziva considered this thought with a smile.

"Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo, makes it sound complete, doesn't it?" Tony said as he walked to the bedroom. Ziva followed. They plopped onto the bed and embraced each other contentedly. They spent the rest of the night in slow loving embrace, both feeling at the top of the world.


	5. Elf Lord and Turmoil

Around a month later, Monday morning on March 23rd, as Tony stirred awake, the first thing that filled his vision was Ziva's face. Marvelling at how lovely Ziva appeared while sleeping, he gazed into her face for a few moments, then as Tony moved closer to Ziva, stroked her hair away from her face gently. As she slowly opened her eyes, he leaned over and kissed her on her forehead, then whispered, "My sweetcheeks, how beautiful you look. Just like Sleeping Beauty when you lay there by my side, my future wife."

Smiling at Tony, putting her hand on Tony's cheek,she said, "Good morning my Tony, my handsome future husband, the wonderful father of our beautiful daughter Tali, and our unborn child, I think it is time for Tali to know the news that she is going to be a big sister." Ziva spoke gently as she gets closer to Tony, kissing him and let him know how much she loves him.

Tony replied, "Well, let's make it special for Tali to hear the exciting news. Why don't we tell that she's going to be a big sister. I'll tell you what, cook up some breakfast and theeeennnn, we can tell her when we sit down to eat." Tony tilted his head and raised his eyebrows in a querying look.

Ziva agreed to the idea, then she and Tony spent some time in their bed snuggling and cuddling each other, until they heard through the baby monitor that Tali was starting to move around in her bed, making waking-up sounds. Moments later, as they got ready for the day, the sound of tiny feet pattering from Tali's bedroom reached their ears, and the sound grew louder until Tali burst into the bedroom, running and hopping onto their bed in excitement.

"Ima! Abba!" Tali squealed as Ziva reached out to Tali, hugging her tightly. Tali then moved over to hug Tony.

"Fly me!" Tali hopped up and down in little bounces, giving out a short squeal of excitement when Tony suddenly swept her up in the air and did the merry go around.

"Look, Ima, I'm flyiiiiing!" Tali squealed.

Ziva shook her head and said with a smile on her face and a little giggle in her voice, "Tony. If she gets sick, you clean up the mess! Now, I need to cook breakfast."

As soon the breakfast was ready, Ziva served the food as Tony and Tali sat at the table, then took a seat next to Tali, but facing Tony, forming an equilateral triangle around the circular table. Tony and Ziva looked at each other, then they all joined hands to bless the food. As they ate, Ziva shot Tony a look with querying eyes. Tony looked back with a knowing look and took her hand, for he realized that the time has come for Tali to hear the surprise news.

As Tali was eating her favorite chocolate-chip pancakes, Ziva reached out her hand to stroke Tali's hair away from her face, and said, "Tali, your Abba and I have something surprise to tell you, remember you drew us some hearts for us other day? The one framed on your wall in your bedroom?" Ziva asked.

Tali replied in happy tones, as she dug her fork into her pancakes, "Yes, my favorite drawing. there is 4 hearts like a family." She looked up at Ziva.

Ziva smiled and reached out her hand to Tony's hand, then looked at Tali. "About that 4th heart that you drew. In a few months, you will become a big sister. I am having a baby in about 6 months," Ziva replied in a bubbly, excited tone as she held Tony's hand smiling at Tali.

"Really?!" Tali perked up, squealed in excitement and got off the chair to hug her Ima. "Am I going to have a brother or sister?" Tali craned her neck up at Ziva.

"Tali, tell you what. After we are done with breakfast, then we get ready for the day, your Abba and I will be going to see the doctor to check on the baby, to make sure the baby is alright, and that is when we will know if it is a boy or a girl. You'll be coming with us to see the doctor, and you will be the first to see picture of the baby as I promised you that you will know at the same time as Ima and Abba, before everybody else. When we are done with the doctor office, we will drop you off at Delilah's and stay with her while your Abba and I have to do some things to do for a while, sounds good?" Ziva spoke to Tali as she stroked her hair away from her face, and looked at Tony, giving him a smile.

Tali got so happy, hugged her ima and Abba, then said, "That sounds good, so that means I get to play with Johnny and Morgan while you both have to work?"

Ziva hugged Tali, with a smile saying "That's right, my sweet Tali, you will have so much fun there, while Ima and Abba working. Time will fly fast before you know it when we come home to you, everything will be ok, my sweetheart, so go on finish your pancakes and we will be going soon." Ziva glanced at Tali as Tali grabbed her fork to finish up her plate.

Tony walked closer to Ziva with a smile on his face, took her hand in his, kissed her and said, "my sweetcheeks, I love it when you know how to make Tali such a happy little girl, that's so awesome to see. I think we 3 will be so excited once we find out, boy or girl, and I think we will be alright as this family expands."

At the doctor's office, as Tony waited in his chair with Tali, the doctor scanned the medical notes as Ziva sat on the examination bed. He muttered to himself, flipping pages on the report. "Hm, everything looks good with the history so far, nothing special to note here..." He flipped the report closed, then turned to Ziva. "Ready for your vitals?"

Ziva nodded, then the doctor took her vitals, then had a good listen to the baby's heartbeat, affirming that the baby's heart was "just spinning along merrily like a top, in perfect shape", bringing a smile to Ziva and Tony's faces.

"Now, are you ready for the sonogram?" the doctor asked.

Before Ziva could reply, Tali burst out with a short squeal, "Yes I want to see the 4th heart baby!"

The joyous outburst got everyone laughing. Tali got up and went to her Ima, looking at the doctor, unsure if it was okay to proceed. Ziva motioned her over, and told her to sit in the chair by her, and watch the screen as Tony walked closer to them, as they all looked at the monitor. As the doctor moved the wand across Ziva's abdomen, an image of a moving fetus suddenly resolved itself on the screen. The rushing, whooshing sound of a beating heart coursed through the room, eliciting some joyous gasps from Ziva and Tony. Happy tears started flowing from Tony's eyes, as Tali sat enthralled, hearing the heartbeat, pointing at the baby on the screen.

"Everything looks good, two arms, two legs, a head, very strong heartbeat and would you like to know the gender is?" As the doctor was commenting on what she was seeing on the screen, the baby changed position, and the shape of the baby became a little clearer . "Let me take some measurements and see how far along the baby is."

Ziva looked at Tony with a smile. "Should we know which gender Tony?"

Tony moved closer to the exam bed and held Ziva's hand, and told her what matters to him is a healthy baby, boy or girl, and it doesn't matter either way.

Tali piped up, "I think I will have a baby brother!"

Ziva looked at Tali and smiled. "Yes, I would like to know."

As the doctor perused the screen the baby shifted position again. She looked at Ziva and Tony, and smiled as she said, "Congrats, it looks like Tali is right, you both are having a boy."

As Tali heard the doctor saying that the baby is a boy, she squealed in joy. Ziva and Tony gasped in joy of tears, hugging Tali as they looked at each other, finding the news to be the best news they ever heard.

Tony stared intently at the screen as Ziva gently asked Tali to go on sit on the chair and wait. Tali zoomed to the chair in the corner and watched. As Tony slowly moved closer to the monitor, he muttered, "A boy? Wow, and you – how, how could you tell that's a boy?"

Giggling a little, the doctor said, patting Tony's shoulder, 'Mr DiNozzo, when your son moved just so, you can see it just peeking out from behind his leg." She pointed out the feature which was now becoming more apparent.

Ziva all suddenly cried in joy as she held Tony's hand, saying "oh my, this is the best news, I can see that there, Tony, this is our son, oh my Tony, we are having a boy," Ziva responded in a joy of tear as she was so happy to hear that her baby boy is all healthy and a strong heartbeat made her and her family's day.

"My sweetcheeks Ziva, this is beauitful... _we_ made this baby, I am in awe, seeing this so little baby there on the screen, this is the best thing I ever seen, and I am so happy that is our son, and we are a family forever, I love you my Ziva," Tony responded to Ziva. He bent over to hug Ziva, kissed her then smiled at Tali as Ziva and Tony looked at her when she looked at the baby on the monitor, standing proudly, knowing that she now can be the big sister that she wanted to be.

As soon the appointment was over, Ziva, Tali and Tony made a quick stop at McGee's quarters to drop off Tali, then told Delilah that they are having a boy, Delilah was so thrilled for them, congratulating them with hugs. After a couple minutes of conversation, they headed to the bullpen to meet with Tim McGee.

As Tony and Tim sat down at their desks in the bullpen, Ziva went to her desk across the aisle from the two men, and booted up the computer. She then looked over at Tony, who was going about his desk, singing little ditties to himself, then shook her head. Nothing new with him, she thought. Always going on about movies and music. She caught his eye.

"Should we tell him now?" she asked. After all, Delilah would be telling him either way.

Tony looked at McGee, giggled at him as if he want to tease his little brother or not.

"Oh right, so Elf Lord will have his little Elf Lord... let," Tony waved his hand around in the air, "turn our son into another Elf Lord-let, they better not be casting a d20 strength spell on me now!" Tony was muttering to himself out loud as he replied to Ziva.

"Oh Tony. Again with the Elf Lord quotes, like the old days at NCIS? Maybe it is okay for McGee to be the Elf Lord, but our boy is too cute to be an Elf Lord," Ziva replied with a giggle as she looked at Tony and McGee.

McGee perked up as he heard what Tony and Ziva was talking about, and laughed at the Elf Lord comment. "Yup, I heard that Ziva. Us together again, like old days. You're right, it had been years ago since when we three worked together, we had lots of fun doing this together. It is so good for us to be together again. The current team I am on certainly holds their own, but it's not the same as before." He guestured to his stomach. "Look at me. I guess there's a little more around my tummy now, but other than that not much else except doing story writing when I can, and taking care of my family."

Tony looked over at McGee, who was typing as he was talking. "So what's the word on the street? Wow, this feels strangely at home." Tony wadded up a piece of paper in his left hand and over-head tossed it, attempting to bean McGee in the head with it.

"You two. Always with the ribbing," Ziva laughed at them. She shuffled some papers on her desk, not finding much to go on in the current case.

Tony smiled magnaminously. "Well, you know I can't stay away from McGeek and not enlighten him on classic movies, 'cuz I know he's content to be in front of his computer doing geeky things like being an Elf Lord Esteemed in – what's the latest game you're into now, McGeek?"

"Oh – it's called "taking care of the kids" now," Tim responded.

"Well, Tim, now that you mention it, we went to the doctor before we came here. We found out this morning," Ziva walked over to McGee and showed him the ultrasound picture. "It is a boy," Ziva replied to McGee, her face beaming.

"Ah Sweet! A baby boy! Hey Tony, I guess your worst fears may be realized, your boy is going to be a little elf lord," McGee replied in a playful tone as he reached out his hand to give Tony a handshake.

Tony got up from his desk chair, smiling at McGee, he reached out as if to give him a handshake, but just before hands were clasped, Tony swung up and gave Tim a light head slap.

"Oh what was that for, Tony?" McGee asked in mock-surprise, for he knew Tony was more playful than angry with the head-slap.

"A little elf lord!? Well guess what - Elf Lord is your thing, and it sticks with you. And because you are the best elf lord we ever known, let me tell you the good news, we are having a little DiNozzo boy" Tony replied to McGee, smiling.

"Oh a DiNozzo boy! Congrats to you Tony and Ziva, that's awesome news. Having a boy is like a piece of cake." Tim smiled at both Tony and Ziva.

Ziva said, "I think it'll be perfect, your boy and our boy, playing together, having fun with each other doing boy things."

"Oh right, so little McGeek could teach our son Elf Lord things, he's gonna have his mind corrupted when I could be teaching him the finer art of movie connoisseurship", Tony remarked in a slightly sarcastic but joshing tone.

"Yup, he'll get trained up right by the Master, no less," Tim replied, ribbing Tony, in an effort play with Tony's mind.

"Oh you boys, I think I have something better to tell you both, I cant believe this is just reminding me how you both were like that years ago, you both like to wrack each other mind like boys would do." Ziva giggled as she included herself to tease the boys like the old times.

"Oh you mean tossing enigmas and riddles and mind-benders at each other," Tony giggled along with Tim and Ziva as he shook his head with a wry grin, reaching out his hand to shake Tim's hand, smiling at him with a brotherly hug.

"It's like you've never left off from before, with you two trying to break each other's heads," Ziva reponsed with a light laughter she looked at the computer monitor as she enjoyed seeing Tony having fun teasing Tim like old times as she went along with them.

Just then, a staffer burst into the bullpen and made a beeline straight for the trio. He stopped before the three and opened a folder. "Tony, Tim, Ziva? Yes, that's you three, follow me." He snapped the folder shut and made an about-face and walked away. The three quickly got up from their seats after locking their terminals and followed the staffer to a secure conference room, where they were asked to go inside.

As they entered, they were surprised to see Vance and Gibbs there, along with Nick Torres and Ellie Bishop, along with a couple of intelligence officers. Among them were a couple of military officials. As everyone started to take seats around the long conference table, a few more people filtered into the conference room. Once the last person entered, the room went on lockdown, becoming SCIF-secure, so as to prevent any leakage of classified information.

As everyone was starting to wonder what the significance of being in that room, whispering to each other in hushed tones, Vance stood up, clutching a short stack of folders stamped CLASSIFIED. As he started passing out the folders, another person stood up.

"As the director of Homeland Security, I have decided to call all of you to this meeting. As you have noticed Vance passing out those folders, you may be wondering what's up. I'll give Vance the floor."

Vance walked to the head of the conference table and faced the group, giving a quick nod. He looked at everyone, slowly scanning the table, his look boring into each person's eyes. He took a deep breath as he set his set of folders down on the table, pausing for a moment to think about where to start.

"Alright, as you may have noticed, we have a few people in here that is germane to this information that I am about to share with all of you. We feel that it is best to pool our resources, and as such, I had meetings with Homeland Security, and pretty much every three-letter agency under the sun – CIA, FBI, NSA, you name it. Secretary of Defense has been looped in, just in case. The SEALS are on tap for this." Vance opened a folder and continued. "This is to be a joint mission, NCIS spearheading this, but everybody playing on the same field. This carries national-security implications."

Gibbs sat back and looked at some of the information within one of his folders. As everybody followed suit, Vance walked around the table and handed to each person another folder.

"Inside those folders I have just given you, will be your part in this mission. I expect that the roles assigned to each person is done to the best of their abilities," Vance spoke then paused for a moment as he looked at Ziva for a moment as he stopped walking around the table by Ziva.

She looked up at him, and he said, "Ziva, I'm sorry, but you're not going out on the field for this. I want you to be the liaison for our agencies as well as Interpol. We have decided for the best interests for you, your daughter, and your unborn child, that you stay and do this."

"But, Vance, I -" Vance stopped her from saying more.

"I hope you understand why I am doing this to you, I know you have your skills, you have done a lot already, you have done awesome, I dont want you to end up to be like Eli. I knew your father that well. I would rather you not be like him, so please allow us all do the job. Remember, we have the best on the job, including the SEALS that we have on tap," Vance spoke in a tone that would brook no further argument.

As her anxiety started to slowly creep up within her, Ziva just sat there, looking at Vance, wondering what he is trying to say. She said "Vance, I do think I should go out there and do him away for what he is doing to us." She quickly added before Vance could speak, "But you are right, I have chosen not to follow the choice that Eli would do, for that is not me. I do not want to be like him. Yes, I am pregnant, but I will not allow it to stop me from putting him away, even if I contribute as

a liaison. I am willing to do that as long as I am not alone doing this whole thing myself." Ziva managed to stuff her anxiety back into its little box, and hold back her tears as she answered Vance.

"Ziva, we will get this Ray guy. Now, heads up, people. This guy, he needs to be found. I don't care if he's dead or alive, find the bastard. He has killed some of our agents and is now actively stalking one of our own. Now, if you need to take him out, you have the green light to put him down like the rabid dog he is." Vance patted Ziva's shoulder. "Even though Ziva comes from another country, she is still one of ours. We back each other up, all the way. We'll do all the hard work for you out in the field, Ziva. You've done enough out there."

Ziva cried softly realizing how much she have people that do care and love her for who she is, as people stood up clapping at her, praise her for her courage to do anything for people she cares about, and would serve the country with her love. Tony hugged Ziva, held her hand as he smiled at her, told her that he is proud of her, as Ziva hugged Tony back.

"Ellie will be your partner on this, Ziva, with her NSA hookups. She will also be stationed here for the time being," Vance looked at Ziva and Ellie.

Ziva raised her eyebrows. Ellie shifted in her seat and looked at her folder. "Vance, you said that pretty much all of the agencies were involved in this?" Ellie held up her folder as she asked.

"As I have said before, Ellie, within the folders I have given you, is information that have national-security implications," Vance said.

He then walked around to McGee and Tony, putting a hand on the back of Tony's chair. "McGee, and Tony, you're both going out into the field. Get geared up, because you both will be leaving tomorrow for exercises with the SEALS. The reason we hand-picked you to do this is based on your history, which I must say has been nothing short of impressive. On this mission you will have SEAL support. We believe you're the man for the job. Gibbs thinks you are the man to do it,Tony." Vance patted Tony's shoulders as Tony looked up in surprise. As he looked at Ziva, he saw her eyes swell up in tears, realizing that he is being deployed into potential harm's way, knowing how devious and dangerous Ray could be.

Eliie held Ziva as tears flowed down Ziva's cheeks, lending her a small degree of comfort as Tony held Ziva's hand. Ziva squeezed Tony's hand with enough strength to cause him to wince in pain, and he realized that one of her bouts of anxiety was just under the surface. Tony let out a very small grunt of pain, not quite heard by the others in the room. Vance turned to McGee.

'Your orders are in here. You also head out with Tony. You stick with him, no matter what. Whatever happens, you report back to us," Vance said.

"So, I head off and train with him?" McGee asked.

"Elf Lord, did I stutter? Of course, you go train with him, because you're his partner on this." Tony chuckled when Vance answered.

"Ah, just making sure I understood correctly," McGee said.

Tony laughed. "Oh, it's just because McGeek here has gotten used to being in clean jobs... the dirtiest he's ever gotten in a long time was cleaning the dust out of computer keyboards."

This brought out a chuckle from Ziva, for she had missed hearing the friendly banter between Tony and Tim for far too long in the past.

"Alright, Nick , you're going to Mexico. There, you'll meet up with a group of people working for the CIA. You will be collecting anything you can find out about Ray, and feeding that back to us here. Your information and orders are in this folder." Vance spoke.

As the meeting progressed, Gibbs was silent throughout the meeting. Ziva, Tony, McGee, Ellie and Nick was looked at Gibbs, wondering if he set the whole thing up, that he encouraged Vance to create these marching orders, in order to protect Ziva and the children. Gibbs could not stop notice the puzzling looks from his team, so he stood up, then looked at Ziva and everyone, as he struggled to explain why this mission has to happen; "First of all, Situations had been changing ever since Ziva and Tony got here, we had worked so hard on those emails, those letters, and those encrypted emails and phone calls, we had tracked it all back to Ray, so Ziva, we are not going to let you to be out there to hunt Ray down, you had done enough like Vance said. I'm taking point and overseeing this. I will do everything to protect my family." Gibbs put up a finger in front of his face. "We will not rest until Ray has been brought to justice."

Vance adjourned the meeting by telling the respective people to gear up in whatever way they needed, because the mission was to due to kick off within a few day's time.

As McGee, Tony, and Ziva slowly walked down the hall to other side of the facility on their way to their quarters, they heard someone calling their names from back down the hallway. They turned around and saw Gibbs, with Ellie and Nick. They walked back down the hallway and met them halfway. As they came closer to each other, Gibbs said, "It's for the best that this is set up that way. I am not letting you go out on the field, I want to keep my word for you. I promise you that I'll do my best to have Tony back in time for the baby."

As they were walking, they passed a small chapel-like room off to one side. Ziva brought everyone into that room, a room where Ziva had gone on occasion as sanctum for her worship, and asked for a joining of hands. As everyone bowed their heads down, Ziva offered up a prayer in Hebrew, as Tony translated for her.

As soon the prayer was over, Gibbs gave Ziva a huge hug, then he whispered in her ear, "Always know we got your back. We'll be back before you know it."

Ziva sniffled as she rubbed her eyes from being swell up from crying at times and managed a smile. "It is good to know that you guys truly do care. I will stay strong for Tali and the baby, and I will be ok. I have my confidence in you, I love you for being good to me, Abba Gibbs," Ziva spoke as she fought back her tears and hugged Gibbs. As Gibbs turned around to leave, she turned to Tony, got a momentary grasp and squeeze of his hand, then took off crying.


	6. Double-Crossed

At Ziva and Tony's living quarters, Tony, Ziva and Tali were having breakfast, spending some time together before they had to go to the airport. Ziva was struggling to not cry, Tony glanced over at Ziva, then got up and walked closer to her, rubbing her back, then held her hand.

"Ziva, are you okay? I don't want you to be sad all the time, it breaks my heart. You know what they say, emotions do affect the baby. Tali, she is struggling because she is sensing something is going to happen. I have hard time to figure out how to explain it to Tali, without making her think I am running away from you both, and it is not something that I wanted to do. It's just work. I'll make sure, my sweetcheeks, that I put a bullet in Ray's head in a blink, got it?" Tony managed to comfort Ziva with his calm, reassuring tone, as an undercurrent of stress flowed beneath his surface. He managed to not let the stress show, for he did not want to add any more stress to the family.

"Tony, all of this, everything is so much to digest, but I think I will be ok. I will make sure the baby will be ok, Tali will be alright; she will keep me on my toes. I'll keep an eye on you, along with Ellie, and track the mission. With Nick going to Mexico, and you guys flying out soon, we better clean up before Ellie stop by to guide us all to the secured van upstairs so we all can go together to see you go on the plane. But I want you know that I love you so much, I will do anything to protect my family. I've been having those weird feelings ever since last night, though. But I just hope it is just the nerves I have, I will be ok," Ziva got up from her chair, to hug Tony, with full on kiss, then they cleaned up and got things going until Ellie Bishop knocked the door, as it was time for them to go. They then headed out to the secure van.

At the airport, Ziva, Tali, Delilah and the children were able to be in an isolated area to bid farewell to Tony and McGee before they get on the plane. Before Tony and Tim were about to leave, Tony went to Ziva, hugged her tightly, as they both tried not to show their tears front of Tali.

"You take care, Tony," Ziva said as she released her grip on Tony.

Tony gently stoked Ziva's hair, kissed her full on as Tali looking up at her Abba, started to cry when she sensed her Ima Ziva being sad.

"Oh my Tony, this brings me a flashback of us before I left on the plane, but I will try to be strong for our children, I will be right here when you come back, please be safe, I love you so much, and I will do my best with everything. It is so weird that I am not the one out there but that is ok, I understand and it is for us, so go on get that dirt-bag down, like you did with Kort, I think you can do it with Ray." Ziva replied softly, trying to stay strong for Tali, looking down to Tali, noticed that she was crying, so Ziva picked her up into her arms, comforted her and told her to give her Abba hug.

"Ima! Ima, I don't want Abba to go, please! Is he going to run away like you, Ima?" Tali wailed in tears, tugging at Ziva and Tony's heart strings. Tony gently took Tali into his arms from Ziva, as Ziva held Tony's arm looking at their daughter, heartbroken to see her all upset to see her father leaving.

"Tali, listen to me, please try to understand this, I am not going to run away, I have to work, Papa Gibbs needs my help, Uncle Tim is going with me. I won't be all alone, and you know what, when I can, I will call you and your Ima every day. I would rather stay with you and Ima, but I gotta travel, because it is part of my job. Tali, please help your mother, make sure you help her feel not all alone, everything will be alright, I love you so much, and I will be back before you know it, alright?" Tony managed to stay calm as strong he can be for his daughter, and Ziva, knowing that missions of this nature can be indefinite. He hugged Tali and Ziva in his arms, kissed them both good bye, then he walked away as Tim started hollering for Tony at the top of the stairs. Tony quickly ran up the stairs, but paused partway up to gaze back at Ziva and wave at her and blew a kiss to her and Tali. Then, he ran up to Tim to on the stairs to get on the plane.

Ziva held back tears, holding Tali as Tali buried her face into Ziva's shoulder, as they both tried so hard to not cry. After a couple of moments, Ellie walked to her, to inform Ziva know that it is time for them to go, as Delilah and the children were ahead of them walking to the secured van. Ziva built up some confidence that Tony and Tim will be in good hands with Gibbs while being on black op mission but something still was bothering Ziva that she could not put her finger on, but she put out of her mind for the time being, so she could concentrate on helping everyone with the mission.

Ziva and Ellie had been ordered to lead their small team in the mountains working with NSA, and communicate with Washington, DC, and the military including Gibbs. Delilah was asked to join Ziva and Ellie, while Jimmy and his wife were asked to help keep an eye on the McGee kids and Tali while everyone had to work the mission through.

Back at the NCIS bullpen, Nick Torres was at his desk gathering up some more things to take with him to his mission to Mexico. As he was packing up his things in his backpack, he noticed in the periphery of his vision someone standing in front of his desk. He turned to face him as he realized he knew this person... well, sort of.

"Hi, uhh – Carl, right? Been a while." Nick said.

"Carl Jackson, yes. Just got into probie school here at NCIS. Cool, huh?" Carl's eyes perused Nick's desk décor.

Nick looked up from his organizing. "Oh, nice. When'd you start?"

As Nick continued to pack some papers, something caught Carl's eye, but Carl didn't let on. "Where you headed?" He had seen a piece of paper stuck in a folder, and he noticed what was on it. What he was able to read was "XICO" and a partial number at the top right of the ticket.

"Ohh – off to vacation. Going to some nice sunny beach down south to work on my tan... meet some babes..." Nick winked and smiled.

"Nice, anywhere in particular?" Carl asked, as Nick grabbed the folder to put it in the bag, without looking at Carl.

Nick was starting to get a little annoyed by the questions but did not let it show. Who was this person, that I don't know, to ask me about what I'm doing? Nick thought to himself. "Nope. Gotta go, see you around sometime."

Carl looked at Nick's receding figure, knowing he would not get an answer out of Nick, but that didn't matter, he had found out anyway what he had wanted to know. After he left the bullpen and went to a secluded location, he pulled out his phone and pressed a speed dial number. The name on the screen said "Zulma". The other end picked up.

"Mexico." Carl simply said into the phone.

Tony, Tim, Gibbs and a company of SEALs had landed somewhere in Arizona at a remote military base there to set up a base of operations and link up with Washington DC and the MTAC at NORAD for mission tracking, GPS geolocation, and trying to track Ray and his henchmen. At nightfall, they headed out under cover of darkness, making way for the border. They slipped across the border undetected and paused a few klicks past the border.

Back in MTAC, video images started appearing on the large screen TV. Ziva and Ellie were setting up communications with Gibbs, and his visage appeared on the big screen.

"Ellie, Ziva, Delilah, communications check, can you hear me and see me?" Gibbs squinted at the screen as night sounds filtered through in the background.

Gibbs, we have good video and audio. Everything good there?" Ellie asking Gibbs, as she looked at the big screen, standing by Ziva and Delilah in her wheelchair.

"Huh, nothing new with Tony, always up to his antics," Ziva replied in a bemused tone. She had heard Tony and Tim in background, Tony ribbing McGee. With an exasperated look, Gibbs landed a firm smack on the back of Tony's and Tim's heads, causing everyone to giggle softly.

"Get back to work, you two." Gibbs looked back at the screen. "Yeah, Ziver. They're fired up, keeping me on my toes ever since we got here. I called you all to make sure all is good there."

"We have Nick and his group on visual at the moment, so you're good to go." Ziva and Ellie glanced at each other.

"Ooh-rah everyone. Sit tight, and I'll get back to you," Gibbs said before cutting the video.

Meanwhile, as Nick and his group of men was trekking through the trail toward the Mexico border, they took a breather before crossing over, checking for possible places to retreat should things get dicey, then headed off. After some hours of walking through rural landscapes, passing through some very small villages they encountered mostly silence, seeing hardly a soul. As Nick and his group got into an open field, they heard some frantic fluttering sounds suddenly sounded out from near a tree line, which put everyone was on alert. Suddenly, all hell broke loose, with tracer rounds searing through the sky in all directions.

"AMBUSH!" DOWN!" A SEAL screamed before getting shot. Everyone hit the deck, trying to find any sort of cover. Nick managed to jump into a ditch and jammed himself into a culvert in an attempt to hide from the ambushers, and scrambled to get his sat-phone out. He mashed the speed dial to MTAC, and was connected.

"Mayday, we got ambushed! Send the cavalry! We got one guy shot. I think I got separated -" Silence fell upon the MTAC room as the audio feed cut off.

"Nick! Come back! Can you hear me?" Gibbs shouted. Only silence answered him.

"Gibbs, I can't pick up his sat-phone anymore, must have been turned off, or shot." McGee typed some words on his terminal and looked up at the screen. Gibbs swore, and hung up the phone.

In a dilapidated hut somewhere in a small village, Nick woke up finding himself in a room, tied up to a bedpost. As he came to, he looked up to see Ray standing in front of him, right before his world spun again as he got a solid smack in the face. Nick grunted with each blow that Ray delivered.

"Nicky, you look lovely with those blood streaming down from your head, and nose...you need to tell me why are you here to look for me? A little birdie told me that you were sent to maybe find me. Is that right?" Ray squeezed Nick's neck, then spat into Nick's face, before kicking him in the abdomen several times.

"Maybe I'm here because I don't like the shoes your momma put on you," Nick inhaled painfully, before coughing up blood.

"Oh you think you're being cute, don't you? Maybe you got me all wrong. Maybe I'm not looking for who you think I'm looking for." Ray slapped Nick.

Nick gasped. "Oh sure, because you like me so much you wanna kill me slowly." He blinked back sweat and blood from his eyes. "Not gonna help, anyways. They'll come after you."

"Good, let 'em. After all, I want Tony gone. Ziva is mine. MINE, you hear? I would do anything to have Ziva back. But, since she chose someone over me, why not make her the miserable woman by taking out the people she loves the most. Yes, I take out her man out, then take her daughter out, right then and there." Ray laughed maniacally. "When I heard she and Tony are getting married, I cannot allow that!" Ray snarled angrily as he pummeled Nick until he remained motionless, unconscious from the pain he was in.

During the wee hours of the night, Gibbs, Tony, Tim, and the SEALs burst into the hut. They fanned out to search the hut.

"Yo, over here!" One of the men found Nick all blood up laying on the floor, all tied up in uncomfortable position. Tony and Tim burst into the room, followed closely by Gibbs. Before they could react, Gibbs rushed past them check on Nick laying on the floor.

"He's alive. Let's move him, but be careful. Looks like Nick was all beaten up badly and was left to die," Gibbs looked up.

A couple of SEALs ran out of the room while the medic attended to some of Nick's more grievous wounds. A stretcher was fashioned out of BDU's and whatever long rods they could find. They gently moved Nick onto the stretcher, then put him in the bed of a pickup truck. Everybody then piled into the truck and they drove back to the remote base.

The next day, at the hospital near the remote military base, Gibbs, Tony, Tim stood around Nick's bed, looking at him.

"Gibbs, something's fishy here. How did they know Nick was in country? Did someone know about our mission that was not supposed to know?" Tony spoke under his breath to Gibbs, being puzzled.

"Hmm, something is not right. How were they able to get to him so soon? I hope Nick pull it through and tell us what happened." McGee responded with a concerned look.

"Mission might have been blown. Someone tipped him off, and I am thinking this could be a message to us from Ray and his people that they know we're after him. Find out what really happened. May have to abort this mission. But I am not leaving this boy until we know what happened." Gibbs, struggling to keep himself calm, seethed as he spoke through gritted teeth to Tim and Tony.

Tony nodded his head and grabbed Tim's arm and guided him out of the room to the waiting room, claiming two seats. They were the same seats that they had been camping out in the waiting room, in case they were needed.

A couple days later, about midday, Nick grunted and stirred in his bed, slowly waking up. He drew a deep breath, and looked up to see Gibbs walking into the room as he drank his coffee. A couple of nurses and doctors were hovering over Nick, checking his vitals and his neurological status as Gibbs stood in the corner, watching. Once the doctor gave him the clear, he motioned for Gibbs over to talk with Nick. Tony and Tim stood back in the corner as observers. Nick winced in pain, raising his freshly-casted arm in the air.

"What happened, Nick? How'd you get separated? Good thing we found you. When you went silent, we went full speed looking for you. You were within an inch of your life when we found you," Gibbs said.

"Gibbs, I never saw it coming. As soon as I got out of that culvert after sending the mayday, I got jumped from behind. Last thing I remembered before waking up, tied up, and seeing Ray. Next thing I know I'm getting the snot stomped out of me. Ray stood there rambling, calling all stupid. I think he's lost it. He played us," Nick struggled to respond to Gibbs's questions.

Gibbs looked incredulously at Nick. "What do you mean, he played us?" Gibbs scratched his head as Nick tried to sit up higher.

"He's not after Ziva, he's after her family. He just wants to make Ziva suffer by losing her family and friends, since he feels nobody should have her except himself. He also kept making reference to little birdies telling him things." Nick responded to Gibbs as much he could but he was very sleepy.

"After Tony and Tali?" Gibbs replied to Nick with a sigh, looking at Tony and Tim as if there is a concern.

Nick struggled to speak due to the pain in his abdomen, and only managed to grunt out a few inaudible words. Gibbs bent closer to Nick, putting his ear closer to his Nick's mouth. Nick whispered saying "I think the mission's been blown. He knows." Gibbs bent back up looking at Nick. Nick nodded off to sleep as the pain medication started to take hold.

"What'd he say?" Tim asked, while Tony looked on attentively.

"Tony, McGee, the mission is aborted" Gibbs spoke in an authoritarian tone as he rushed out of the room. Tony and McGee quickly followed close behind as they left the hospital.

As the trio stood by at the remote base, Vance answered the video chat from NCIS MTAC. Anger was etched upon Gibbs' face.

"Vance, I had to abort the mission based on new developments. Nick woke up hours ago. Doctors say he will recover, but he was lucky we found him. At the moment he is doing okay, but is loaded with pain medication." Gibbs paused, then continued on." From what Nick said, I think we got someone compromising us. They had Nick whacked and left for dead, we were very lucky we found him. Ziva is the target here but not in the way you think. He's going after her family, and Tony especially, wants her to suffer for dissing him."

"It now all fits. I just got word that Zulma Reynaldo from homeland security had not shown up to work. They thought that was suspicious so they passed that on to me to check out. According to her background, she is related to Ray – she's his sister. We think she was the mole, she was in the meeting with us. Also I need to tell you that Carl Jackson, my cousin's son, he was found dead in his car by Metro the other day. He left a suicide note. In it, he tells me how sorry he was, how he was full of anger towards his father, he understood why I gave him tough love all the time. He also confessed in the note that he was helping Zulma, in order to gain intel on our mission to hunt Ray down." Vance nodded once, curtly. He was visibly upset, holding up the suicide note as solid evidence that his words were true.

Gibbs, Tony, and McGee looked at each other, speechless, trying to process the information. "Zulma is out there, where would you think..." Gibbs began to ask when Tony gasped with sudden recognition.

"Gibbs, Zulma was in the meeting! She is leading Ray over there!" Tony shouted out as he figured it all at the same time, then he grabbed McGee, and they both stormed out of the secured room. Before Gibbs could chase after them, Vance sharply called out Gibbs' name.

"The mission is still on, you go back to NORAD, and finish the job. Keep me in loop, see you later," Vance spoke in a blunt tone, then hung up on Gibbs, prompting him to start packing everything up and heading to the airport.

At the NORAD bullpen, Ziva, Ellie, and Delilah were alerted to an incoming call at the MTAC room while working on documents. As they entered the room, they noticed Gibbs was on the big screen. They noticed that he was in a private jet, with Tony and Tim sitting behind him, all with a concerned expression on their faces.

"Is everything ok? Where's Nick?" Ziva asked.

"Mission went sideways. They did a number on Nick, but he'll be okay. Bad news is Ray is en route to there with the help of his sister, Zulma. We found out she is the mole; she was in the meeting and she knows where you all are. Watch your six, she might be there somewhere. Ziva, you and Ellie go to Checkpoint Charlie, we will meet you there soon as we get there." Gibbs said, giving them a running update before he hung up.


	7. Endgame

Inside the chapel, Ziva, Tali, Delilah, Morgan, Johnny, Jimmy, Breena, Victoria, James, Jr, and Ellie were sitting on the prayer mat, Indian style, doing a short meditation with peaceful music. As soon the music was over, Ziva got up, and everyone followed, and created a circle, each person holding the hand of the person next to them. As they bowed their heads down, Ziva started saying prayers in Hebrew, while Delilah translated. As soon the prayers were over, everyone gave each other hugs and were in good spirits. As Ziva was finishing hugging everyone, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Tali standing by her with a sad look, as if she was going to cry. Ziva stooped down and took Tali into her arms, walking away from the crowd to sit on the pew, for a little mother and daughter time alone.

Tali buried her face into Ziva's shoulder as she started to cry. Ziva comforted her as she looked at Tali, shushing her before saying, "Oh my sweet Tali, Tali, please try to calm down, ssshhh, it is ok." As an undercurrent of anxiety started to surface, Ziva took some comfort in the warmth of Tali as she cradled Tali, holding back the tears.

She glanced up at Ellie, who started walking toward to her with an "I'm here for you" look on her face. Ellie came to sit by Ziva, and said gently, "The moment I saw that look on your face, I felt I should be with you, Ziva, so that you're OK." Ellie rubbed her back for a moment. "Tali will be ok, she has good people. Before you know it, she will be all thrilled to see you and Tony back in her arms again."

"If Tali allows me to go." Ziva smiled. "Mind you, she has been very clingy and missing her Abba every night. I've got to do this, for our safety, then it will be all over with, right?" Ziva spoke with a gentle but slightly firm tone at the end, as she raised an eyebrow.

Tali started to calm down for she sensed the presence of Ellie. Ellie looked down at Tali and smiled at her. "Ready to go now? Everyone's getting ready to leave."

Ziva, Ellie, and Tali caught up to the rest of the people. As they walked, Tali looked at Ziva by her side, holding hands, Ziva looked down and smiled back at her, stroking her hair away from her face, as she managed not to cry. Ziva looked down at her necklace, and took it off. Kneeling down in front of Tali, she then put it around Tali's neck, and draped the worn out scarf around Tali's shoulder.

"Ima, the necklace, and scarf, I like them, they make me feel safe when you go away." Tali muttered to Ziva in soft whisper way as if she was struggling to not cry some more.

"These have meaning for me, and it means a lot for you to wear and keep safe. This necklace has Ima and Abba's rings on it; it is for the day we get married. Wear this and remember us." Ziva then palmed the scarf. "Abba got this for my birthday, in Paris. With these, you have us with you, always. I love you so much my sweet Tali Liliana DiNozzo, everything will be ok."

Sometime later, Ziva and Ellie met several other people, military officers that had been designated to be Ziva and Ellie's back up, in the bullpen, then they walked over to an elevator that was not on the normal route. They took it up, into what appeared to be a heavily guarded parking structure. As they walked out onto the concrete, Ziva and Ellie noticed a black van pulling up alongside them. Tony rolled down the passenger seat window.

"You people going our way?" Tony hollered over the engine noise.

"Beats walking," one officer said.

Ziva motioned to the van. "Get in, we're going your way, Tony." The rest piled into the van, immediately after Tony got out of the van to open the door for them.

"Up front, Ellie, you sit with Gibbs. Let me sit with Ziva," Tony said.

Ellie took a look at Tony. "Of course. Thanks." She took her place in the van.

"Hello, you two." Another voice called out to Ziva's left. She looked over to see McGee's beaming face looking back at her. As soon everyone got in, Gibbs started driving. Was this Checkpoint Charlie? Ziva wondered.

"All good back there?" Gibbs asked, getting assents from everybody.

"Yes, so I take it this was Checkpoint Charlie? And why the officers?" Ellie asked Gibbs.

Gibbs looked over at her with a bit of a "are you ok?" look at Ellie. "Yeah. Vance is worked up for some reason, which is why the officers. You know, just in case." Gibbs kept on driving. "Good part is we know where Ray and Zulma are hiding." Gibbs looked at Ziva in the rearview mirror. "Look, if it gets real bad, I have to pull you out of this mission, Ziver." The look on Gibbs' face brooked no argument.

"Gibbs! You know me, I can take care of myself, I want to do this, I want to face him like I did last time, do you remember how I..," Ziva spoke in firm tone until Gibbs interrupted her.

"Ziver, I do remember clearly how you smashed his life right there on the spot." Gibbs slammed the steering wheel in frustration. "I do not want to lose you. Losing people I care about, that's hard enough."

Silence descended over the others, as Tony secretly put his hand on Ziva's hand and clenched her hand. Ziva sat there speechless, she took a deep breath, resting on Tony's shoulder to calm herself, then spoke to Gibbs gently, "I am sorry, Abba Gibbs. I was just wanting it to be all over with, and I just want to protect my family. I know all of you are his targets. Technically, I am not his target, but maybe we could use that to our advantage – I bait him to where you could take care of him?" Ziva raised an eyebrow at Gibbs.

"Never apologize," Gibbs responded, then Tony and Tim joined in with him, "Apologizing is a sign of weakness."

Tony piped up. "Maybe Ellie should go with Ziva. Can't go alone, not with someone as dangerous as Ray." Ellie looked back at Tony.

"Ellie, stick with Ziva." Gibbs made that decision for them.

Ziva let out a small gasp as she felt a sudden small movement within her abdomen. Tony looked at Ziva, looking into her face, checking to see if she was alright. Ziva whispered to herself and patted her belly. "The baby moved."

Tony looked back at her. "My sweetcheeks, are you alright, we could go ahead to the warehouse and you could stay with the officers in here if you need to. Keep the baby safe, right?"

"No. I will go and be the bait. Gibbs is right, I will have Ellie. You go with McGee and Gibbs. Teamwork, right?" Ziva took a deep breath as the others looked on.

Tony hugged Ziva, and said "We'll make sure we got your back."

As the van entered a heavily wooded area, Gibbs turned off onto a trail heading deeper into the woods. After some distance, the woods suddenly opened up into a large field, revealing an abandoned warehouse. Gibbs stopped just before entering the field, scanning, taking in the warehouse. He noticed that there was a set of stairs on the outside of the building to the rooftop. Before everyone got out, he instructed everyone as to what the game plan was, sending the officers out to reconnoiter the area. They linked up with a couple of SEALs in the tree line at the other side of the field. Gibbs had asked Tony and McGee to head to a spot where Gibbs could cover them. Before Tony left, he and Ziva snuck in a quick but tight hug, before looking over at Gibbs.

"Everyone, watch your six. Off you go, then." Gibbs sent them off.

Tony and McGee went off to their locations, while Gibbs headed for the rooftop. Ziva and Ellie walked slowly up to the front of the warehouse.

"Ready, Ellie?" Ziva looked at Ellie.

Ellie kept an eye on the building. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Scanning the surroundings, Ziva motioned her head towards the front door while they were still some distance from the building. Ellie nodded.

"Check the windows too," Ellie said.

Ziva tried to peer through the windows for any sign of movement, but saw none. They carefully approached the door.

Meanwhile, Tony and Tim found themselves a hide in a room below the roofline, with a sightline into an upper room of the warehouse. Gibbs got himself situated behind a rooftop chiller unit, with a slightly different sight line into the room. The military officers had long since retreated into the woods, as outside security.

"Tony!" Tim hoarsely whispered. "Look!"

Tony looked at the small screen, showing a black/white image. Two ghostly appearing images materialized on the screen from one side of the room.

"It's them!" Tony said. "How do we let 'em know?"

Tim looked out the window. "Too late."

As soon the two women got closer to the warehouse door, Ziva scanned the area, with a slight sense of foreboding. As she reached for the knob, the door suddenly opened. Standing there was Zulma. Before Ziva could react, Zulma grabbed both her and Ellie and pulled them in, quickly closing the door behind them. Zulma then pulled a gun out on them.

"We've been expecting you. Do come in and make yourself comfortable." Zulma pushed them sharply down a hallway, frog-marching them into a room with a dilapidated couch sitting in the center of it.

"Now, why don't you take a seat there, you ladies?" Zulma sneered at them.

"You will never get away with this! Your brother will never have me." Ziva flashed her eyes defiantly at Zulma.

"ARGH!" Zulma snarled as she slapped Ziva across the face.

Ellie jumped up but got smacked in the face for that by Zulma. "You sit down and don't get up!"

Ziva held Ellie tightly and whispered into her ear, "Stay away from the windows."

Ellie looked at the windows and started to say something, but Ziva held a finger to Ellie's mouth. Ziva heard footsteps coming from that room, Ziva grabbed Ellie as she was holding Ellie closer to her ears as if to comfort her or tell her one last secret.

"Oh, are you two sharing secrets with each other? I don't think so!" Zulma snapped at the two, gesticulating wildly.

Ziva and Ellie looked at her in disbelief, as if she had lost her mind right in front of them.

Zulma then walked closer to Ziva and Ellie, and snarled, "Well, Ziva, guess I'm taking your girlfriend with me. A special someone will be here to see you soon." Zulma grabbed Ellie and pulled her sharply away from Ziva. After struggling for a couple of moments, Ellie broke loose from Zulma with a reversal move.

Ziva jumped up from the couch to get to Ellie as Zulma started dragging Ellie. When Ellie broke loose, Ziva punched Zulma hard in her face at the same time Ellie gave her a hard shove towards the windows. Zulma stumbled nearby the windows, losing her balance. All of a sudden, a red dot appeared on her forehead and her face suddenly took on a blank look, as she sunk to the floor, followed closely by a gunshot from the outside of the window. Ziva and Ellie got startled when they heard the gunshot going off. Zulma finally fell forward on the floor again, just as Ray rushed in the room.

"Zulma! Zulma!" Ray screamed, running to his sister and kneeled down by her. As soon he held Zulma's head, her lifeless eyes stared into open space.

Letting out a primal, almost animal-sounding roar, Ray flew into a rage, then grabbed Ellie away from Ziva. "I'll kill you for setting her up," he swore vehemently at her while angrily shaking a finger at her.

"No!" Ziva rushed to try to get to Ellie, but Ray pushed her away before dragging Ellie away into the other room and slamming the door behind him, locking it. She heard Ellie screaming as she was being dragged away. Ziva ran to the door and shouldered the door, trying to open it. After a couple of tries, she managed to break the door open. As Ray was strangling Ellie, Ziva rushed over and kicked him in his kidneys until he loosened his grip on Ellie.

"You will not take her! You'll have to go through me!" Ziva rasped at him as she punched and kicked at him.

"She got my sister killed!" Ray roared at her and slapped at Ziva.

Ziva feinted and countered with a double-punch to his solar plexus, taking the breath out of him.

"She's not who you want – I am!" Ziva yelled at him as he tried several wind-milling punches and she easily avoided most of the punches.

Ray suddenly stopped attacking Ellie and turned around to face Ziva. Pure hatred was etched on his face. "She will pay for what happened to my sister." He started attacking Ziva verbally instead. Fortunately for Ziva, she was able to endure his threats and insults, drawing upon her Mossad training.

The sounds of fighting and screaming filtered outside the building, where Gibbs and the others were able to hear it. They decided it was go time, to storm the building. As they got into the building, they started clearing the rooms.

"Gibbs!" Tony whispered across the room to him. Gibbs looked at Tony, seeing him point to something near the windows. As Gibbs followed Tony's finger, he noticed Zulma lying on the floor, her lifeless eyes staring at nothing. He heard something in another room, and he motioned for the others to follow him to the source of the sound. A few yards later, it became clear that the sound was that of Ellie groaning in pain and softly sobbing. McGee ran over to Ellie to check upon her.

"Ellie? It's me, McGee. Come on, you OK?" McGee asked Ellie, as he comforted her.

Ellie groaned, then sat up slowly. "I-I think so... Ray took Ziva..." Her voice trailed off as she looked at the other end of the room.

Just then, Tony ran into the room, followed by Gibbs. Gibbs was about to scan the room when he and Tony noticed that Ellie was on the ground.

"Where did he say they were going?" Tony asked Ellie.

As Gibbs crouched down to check Ellie, he noticed movement in the distance. "He's headed to the rooftop!"

Tony stormed out to that door leading to the roof. Before Gibbs ran after Tony, he paused. "Tim, stay with Ellie, make sure she's OK. I got this," Gibbs said, then ran off after Tony.

Ellie fought with her emotions for a moment, then said, "Ray went nuts when Zulma got popped. He tried to kill me, then Ziva got to him, he got angry. You know Ziva, when she fights, she gets scary. Managed to get Ray off of me." A couple of tears leaked from Ellie's eyes as she was talking.

"We got you. We'll make sure he doesn't get away," McGee replied, in a comforting tone.

On the rooftop, Tony managed to sneak into a hiding spot where he could observe more of the rooftop. Gibbs slowly caught up behind him to get a sight line for himself.

"SEALs are stationed around the building," he whispered directly into Tony's ear. "End-game here. You focus on Ziva."

Tony nodded in assent. "When's the right time?" He kept a close eye on a structure on the rooftop, where he could see some movement.

"You'll know. Never underestimate Ziver. Ray, pop him if you have to." Gibbs gave him a gentle head slap, reminding him of Ziva's proficiency with armed and unarmed combat.

"Oh, right, because she's the Mossad ninja," Tony mock-whispered in a conspiratorial/sultry tone, earning him a look from Gibbs that said, "are you serious?"

"Don't forget, she always carries things that go bump in the night." Gibbs motioned to the structure. "Go. They're moving."

Tony melted into the shadows, hidden from the outbuilding, trying to find a better angle where he could see without being seen. Gibbs worked himself back into position behind a chiller unit that was mostly in shadow, then carefully climbed on top of it, with his rifle that he had stashed previously.

Moments later, a male and female voice filtered back to them. As Tony was sneaking into a hiding spot, Gibbs caught a glimpse of Ziva and Ray. Their conversation carried over to Gibbs and Tony. Gibbs could see that Ray was starting to ramble at Ziva.

"Ziva, being in prison had changed me; I just could not stop thinking of you. I dreamed of us together ever since I found out you were alive." Ziva was taken aback by this, but only momentarily. Ray continued his monologue, starting to gesture more frantically. "And I hear that you're getting married to Tony?"

"Yes. And I am carrying his child. You will never have a child with me." Ziva retorted.

This set Ray off. "Well, this changes everything. Since this baby is not mine, but Tony DiNozzo's, I guess I'll just bump him off, take out the rest of your family and friends so you could be all alone without them."

"Well, you have me here now. What do you want with them now that you have me to take for yourself, just like a piece of meat?" Ziva fired back, with a mocking look on her face.

Ray paced around frenetically for a moment. "Don't you get inside my head, woman!" Sweat flicked off his forehead as he shook his head wildly as if to clear out the cobwebs in his head.

"Look, I know you. I can read you a mile away. Your voice says you want to kill but your face says otherwise. Which is it?" Ziva said, very bluntly.

Ray snarled as he paced furiously, trying to think for a few seconds. He started muttering to himself, throwing his arms around in a mix of exasperation and frustration. Suddenly, his voice took on a different tone, a more decided one. "Maybe I got a better idea."

Up on the chiller, Gibbs was watching Ray's every move, and he happened to see the butt of a pistol under his jacket as he started to get more agitated. He took aim at Ray but held his fire.

In a different vantage point, Tony crept up to get a better view. He slowly moved to where he could see Ziva, but not Ray yet.

As Ray paced and muttered to himself, Ziva carefully watched him, and slowly knelt down as to present a smaller target to him. "I guess since you don't want me back, why don't I make it easier for you? You know, end you, right here, right now." As Ray rambled on, waving his hands in air, his attention on Ziva started to slip. Ziva took advantage of this, scanning the area. She first spotted Tony creeping up slowly, putting a finger to his lips in a "shush" motion. She could then just make out the top of Gibbs' head peeking out from the top of the shaded chiller, and the unmistakable silhouette of a rifle barrel. She shifted her gaze back to Ray, then she lifted up her pant leg and slowly drew her knife from her ankle, then got up slowly.

Ray suddenly looked back at Ziva, who had almost completely stood up from her crouch. "What are you doing? Are you trying some of your Pilates or whatever you do?" he asked in a derisive tone.

"Ray, are you alright? You should know, Pilates are not for pregnant women." Ziva shook her head at him. "I am sorry that you seem to struggle with the concept that I abhor you. I have moved on, I am marrying Tony, and I am having his child, like it or not. To know that you murdered that woman on the same day you chose to propose to me is repulsive. You've painted a huge target on your back for every agency in existence," Ziva responded with fire in her eyes. She wanted him _done, _out of the picture permanently.

"Oh, seriously. I'm the target? No, I can make you my target. So, a win-win for me here. I kill you, they kill me, so what, big deal." Ray rambled on, fumbling to retrieve something from under his jacket.

Before Ray could draw his gun out of the holster, there was a flash of steel as Ziva threw the knife, sticking it solidly in Ray's chest. As Ray staggered back from the knife hit, a couple of gunshots rang out almost simultaneously, and twin blots of blood erupted onto his chest, to either side of the knife, causing Ray to jerk backwards, trip, and fall over the railing, landing hard on his stomach, causing the wind to go out of him. He did not move afterwards.

"You alright, Ziver?" Gibbs looked up over the edge of the chiller at Ziva, as Tony ran to her.

She got up and looked over the railing, then shook her head. "Thank goodness he's not going to be a problem anymore."

Tony looked down with Ziva. "About time his life got smashed for good." Tony took Ziva into his arms, and Ziva nodded as tears started to flow from her eyes. A moment later, Ellie and McGee ran across the rooftop to the duo, hugging them as Gibbs walked toward them, smiling at Ziva.

"What an endgame, we done real good." Ziva smiled at Gibbs, as Tony hugged her, then gave her full on kiss, Gibbs looked at them and chuckled as he put his gun in the bag.

Once they arrived back at NORAD, going the same way they left the facility, Tony and Ziva headed back to their living quarters after putting their gear away at the bullpen. McGee and Ellie showed up at the bullpen while they were cleaning out their desks, their missions having been completed. On their walk back to their quarters, Gibbs met up with them. They got to their living quarters and opened the door.

"Ima! Abba!" a tiny, excited voice squealed, followed by a very happy Tali.

"Hi, there, Tali!" Ziva and Tony said.

"Why, hello, Tali!" Gibbs chuckled and looked at her.

"Papa Gibbs, thank you for bringing my Ima and Abba home. I love you, Papa Gibbs!" Tali piped up in excitement, hugging Gibbs.

"That's what family is for, right?" Gibbs smiled at Tali, show a softer side of him, rarely seen.

Ziva and Tony beamed, happy to see Tali being happy with Gibbs, as if he was her grandfather, the only one she has ever known. It mattered not that he was not even related to them in any way, but what mattered was what counted, that he was a good father figure to Ziva and a good grandpa to Tali.

That evening, everyone headed out to the airport, and when they got there, they went straight onto the tarmac in front of a waiting Gulfstream.

"Well, I guess time for everyone to fly back to Washington, DC," Tim said.

"I didn't know you were so anxious to get back, McGeek," Tony ribbed Tim. Ziva chuckled at the two.

"Yup, gotta polish my stapler when I get back." This earned a hearty chuckle from Tony.

Ziva looked around. "Where's Gibbs?"

Tim's face lit up. "Oh, he's got some paperwork to finish up. We got some time to talk."

Ziva and Tony looked at each other. Paperwork? Gibbs hated to deal with paperwork, avoided it whenever possible.

The sun set slowly into the early evening sky. "Ziva, Tony, it is always good to be with you guys. I do cherish the memories, and I sure miss our old times. I am glad we all did good and came back safe," Tim said as he stood between Tony and Ziva, putting his arms around their shoulders.

"We will always be together forever in our hearts. You are like little brother to us," Ziva responded to McGee.

Gibbs walked up to them, smiling. He stood with them and embraced them in a group hug, as they watched the sun moving lower in the evening sky. After a few moments, they walked up the stairways into the plane, and the door closed as the last rays of sunlight faded out of existence.

********************************************************* _**Author's note**_

_**This is the final chapter for this story. Certain things I left hanging, for the sequel, such as: Where do they go after they get on that plane? Ziva's baby? the wedding? what their future would be like? **_

_**Thank you everyone for your tweets, reviews, messages, and your support to help me to keep writing Tiva stories, so please look forward to the new story coming up soon. **_

_**Thank you again, ~StarrylightPaws~ **_


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